NAACP rallies supporters to fight voter ID laws

COLUMBIA -- The NAACP called on supporters Monday to fight what it deems a

“coordinated and comprehensive assault” on black and Latino voters by

states, such as South Carolina.

The civil rights group’s effort to rally its troops comes less than a month

before the U.S. Justice Department decides whether to authorize or block the

state’s new Voter ID law. A decision is expected Dec. 27.

The impact of that decision on South Carolina’s Jan. 21 Republican

presidential primary is unclear. That’s because Justice’s ruling might not

be the final say. Lawsuits on the matter are also pending.

As the clock ticks down, Benjamin Todd Jealous, president of the National

Association for the Advancement of Colored People, called upon those who

oppose the laws to get vocal. He said arguments that such laws are necessary

to stop voter fraud are a farce. He made his comments in a nationwide

teleconference with organization leadership and the media.

A person is more likely to be struck by lightning or record the spotting of

a UFO than to encounter voter fraud, Jealous said. Fraud can be addressed

through prosecution, he said.

Nationwide ‘assault’

The NAACP sees the 25 voting measures, passed in South Carolina and 13 other

states this year, as a legislative effort to suppress voters, “rooted in our

nation’s worst traditions of democracy,” according to Ryan Haygood, the

NAACP’s director of political participation with the Legal Defense Fund.

The Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, president of the North Carolina NAACP,

characterized the measures as modern, less overt, versions of Jim Crow laws,

designed to strip blacks of political power and equality.

The organization’s objections are outlined in a new report, “Defending

Democracy: Confronting Modern Barriers to Voting Rights in America.” The

report claims that the laws follow record minority turnout for the 2008

presidential election of Barack Obama and 2010 census findings of

significant growth in minority communities.

Partisan politics

The issue is a bitter partisan one. While Democrats opposed the law en

masse, South Carolina’s Republican leaders pushed the new law, signed by

Gov. Nikki Haley in May.

Under the law, South Carolina voters must bring a photo ID on Election Day

to prove their identity. South Carolina driver’s licenses, state-issued ID

cards, passports and military ID are the forms of identification that will

be accepted. Forthcoming voter registration cards with photos will be issued

and accepted at the polls.

The GOP strongly denies that the new law is a response to record turnout

among minorities in 2008. Instead, supporters see the law as a common-sense

approach to protect the integrity of the election process. As Haley signed

the law, she said showing a photo ID is a way of life in the 21st century.

She also offered free rides to the state Department of Motor Vehicles

offices earlier this year to help people obtain photo IDs.

“We have made it abundantly clear that we want more South Carolinians

voting, not less,” Haley’s spokesman Rob Godfrey said. “We just think it’s

good policy for them to show a photo ID.”

The Justice Department continues to review the law. The law cannot go into

effect until after the Justice Department authorizes it, due to the state’s

past voting rights abuses.

The State Election Commission calculates that 240,000 voters will be

affected because they are registered to vote but do not have a photo ID that

will be accepted under the new law.

New voting laws

Nationwide, states have adopted new standards for voting registration,

imposed new restrictions on voter registration drives and limited early

voting and absentee voting opportunities, among other measures.

For example, Florida, Maine, Ohio and Wisconsin passed laws that limit when

and where voters can register, according to the NAACP’s report.

Those laws, the NAACP officials say, will disenfranchise the poor, the

elderly and college students, many of whom do not have an acceptable ID. To

obtain one can be expensive for those without a birth certificate or those

who have changed their name, opponents say.

Reach Yvonne Wenger at 803-926-7855, follow her at twitter.com/yvonnewenger

and read her Political Briefings blog at postandcourier.com/blogs.