To secure our state elections and the integrity of every ballot, South Carolina lawmakers passed a Voter ID law last year supported by more than ¾ of all citizens. 

House Speaker Bobby Harrell said, “Lacking a photo ID requirement makes it difficult, if not impossible, to prove or even recognize some types of potential voter fraud.  Many opportunities where fraud could occur would easily be prevented with Voter ID, or at a minimum, make it very difficult to cast a ballot from beyond the grave.”

A House Judiciary Sub-committee hearing was held yesterday on questionable data reported by the state Election Commission on the number of SC voters currently lacking photo IDs.  The revelation of a SLED investigation into hundreds of reported cases where votes were cast by individuals after the date of their deaths raised serious questions of possible voter fraud. 

·         37,295 people listed by the Election Commission as needing photo IDs are deceased

·         Of those, 957 were found to have voted AFTER the recorded date of their deaths, according to the SC DMV

“Dead people voting – this reeks of voter fraud tales usually reserved for Chicago political folklore, not South Carolina,” Speaker Harrell said. 

A SC DMV review of the 240,000 voters (<9% of all registered SC voters) the Election Commission claimed did not have photo IDs, showed the real number could be less than 28,000:

·         37,295 are deceased

·         20,508 did in fact currently possess the necessary photo identification

·         154,258 individuals had previously been issued SC photo IDs but were canceled either because they had declared residency in another state or the ID had expired

·         Additionally – 334 voters were registered at the same address, One voter was listed as being 130 years old, 25 voters were registered at a Correctional Center

“Yesterday’s breaking news of a SLED investigation into hundreds of reported cases where dead people voted raises some very serious concerns of potential voter fraud that must be addressed.  It also validates our hard-fought efforts to secure our state elections by passing a Voter ID law,” Harrell commented.  “The one positive thing this disturbing new information of possible fraud does, is it makes our already strong challenge of the Justice Department’s denial even stronger.” 

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****Note****

SC’s Voter ID Law & Other Voter ID Facts:

·         Voter ID was upheld as Constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court

·         Voter ID was recently precleared by the Department of Justice in another Southern state with voter identification requirements more strict than SC’s law

·         Voter ID laws have been adopted in both Republican and Democrat led states

·         Brings needed security to election process and integrity to every ballot

·         Employs commonly used, everyday photo identification methods also necessary to do things like: cash a check, board a plane or buy cold medicine

·         SC law made the necessary photo IDs available to citizens free of charge

·         Voters lacking the necessary identification on election day can still cast a ballot after signing an affidavit affirming their identity

·         Federal law ID requirements to obtain entitlements (like Medicaid) are more strict than SC’s Voter ID law

Given all these facts supporting the case for a Voter ID law in South Carolina, many were surprised when the DOJ denied preclearance for our state’s new law.  Further analysis has shown that the DOJ based their rejection on what has been shown to be severely flawed data and is a leading reason why strong support is being given to our state’s appeal of this decision.