S.C. Considers Second ALEC Voting Bill

[xchrom]

http://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/01/11265/sc-considers-second-alec-voting-bill

South Carolina is again considering a bill from the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) to limit access to the ballot box. A nearly identical version of an ALEC voting bill is moving through the state Senate and comes on the heels of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) blocking South Carolina's ALEC-inspired voter ID law as discriminatory against people of color.

S.C. Sen. Chip Campsen S.C. Sen. Chip Campsen State Senator Chip Campsen (R), an ALEC member, introduced SB 304, which is almost a mirror-image of the ALEC Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act (pdf). The bill requires proof of citizenship to register to vote and has opened up a new round of debate over voting rights.

DOJ Blocked S.C. Voter ID in December

In May 2011, South Carolina was part of a wave of states to pass restrictive voting measures using the ALEC model Voter ID Act as a template (Sen. Campsen also co-sponsored the voter ID bill). According to the ACLU, the law would disenfranchise 180,000 voters in the state, primarily people of color, students, and the elderly.

In December, the DOJ rejected South Carolina's voter ID law, noting that the state's registered population of minority voters was 20 percent more likely than whites to not have the required identification. Based on its history of discriminating against African-American voters, South Carolina is one of several states that under Section 5 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act needs federal pre-approval for changes to voting qualifications or procedures.