Educating Public on New Photo ID Law

The law requiring photo IDs to be shown at polling places before you can vote is now in effect.

The Pickens County Elections & Registrations Commission has been educating the public about the new requirements.

The commission held the first of two seminars Tuesday morning at the County Administration Building.

Elections and Registrations Director Rodney Allen said state law now requires voters to show one of 5 forms of ID in order to vote in person.

Under the old rules, voters had to show one of three Ids to vote – a SC Driver's License, a S.C. ID Card issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles or a S.C. Voter Registration Card, which did not have a photo on it.

“Under the new rules, you can still use your driver's license, still use your DMV-issued ID card,” Allen said. “They've added the military-issued ID and the U.S. Passport. They've removed the voter registration card without a picture and have replaced it with a voter registration card with a picture.”

The photo ID you present – whether it's a driver's license, DMV-issued ID card, military ID, passport or voter registration card with a picture – must be in effect and not suspended and current.

“The voter registration cards that we issue in our office will not expire,” Allen said.

“The purpose of the Voter ID bill, and by requiring (one) of those five things is simply to confirm that the person on the list is the person standing in front of the poll worker on Election Day,” Allen said. “We're not requiring driver's licenses addresses on the cards to match voter registration lists or anything like that.”

If you already have one of those five forms of ID, you don't have to do anything differently in order to vote, Allen said.

“They simply have to bring one of those with them to the polls,” he said. “In other words, if you already have a driver's license, U.S. Passport or any of the other ID's, you just need to remember to bring that with you to the polls. Nothing else is necessary.”

Most voters voter with a driver's license and won't notice a change, Allen said.

“They'll continue to vote without a problem,” he said.

Though Allen and his staff are happy to provide a Voter ID with photo to any voter who wants one, free of charge, as long as you have one of the other forms of acceptable identification, you're not required to have a Voter ID with photo.

If you previously voted with your photo-less paper voter registration card, you are impacted by the new law.

“If you don't have a qualifying Photo ID, those voters need to get one before they go to vote,” Allen said. “Even on Election Day, my office is open 7am – 7pm and we're open our regular business hours. So if a person realizes the day before Election Day, or even on Election Day, that they don't have the ID, they can always come to my office and get one.”

A person who has what the law describes as “a reasonable impediment” preventing them from obtaining a photo ID can provide their paper voter registration card to poll managers.

“They're going to have to sign an affadavit attesting to the impediment,” Allen said.

That affadavit must be notarized. If a notary is not present at the polling place, the poll manager must sign the affadavit.

Voters voting without a Photo ID will vote a paper provisional ballot, which will be counted, unless the Election Commissions discovers the impediment is false.

The Attorney General defines reasonable impediment as any valid reason, beyond a voter's control, which creates an obstacle to the voter obtaining the necessary Photo ID in order to vote.

“The voter may claim any obstacle that he finds reasonable – as long as it's true,” Allen said. “Only the voter determines what is reasonable. Poll managers, myself, my staff, my commissioners are not empowered to reasonableness. That's something the courts have expressly said.”

Examples of reasonable impediments include lack of transportation, work schedules, disability or illness, family responsibilities, or religious objection to being photographed.

If you do not have a reasonable impediment and do not have a qualifying Photo ID, you may still vote. Voters in that case would vote a provisional ballot at the polls.

In order for your vote to county, however, you must provide one of the qualifying Photo IDs to the county election commission prior to the certification of that election.

Allen's office is currently issuing 3 types of voter registration cards: a paper card without a photo, a paper card with photo and a plastic card with photo.

If you turn in your voter registration information by mail, you will be issued a paper card without a photo.

“The only way to get a picture Voter Registration Card is to come in person to our office,” Allen said.

Voters may request duplicate voter registration cards at any time from Allen's office.

“There is never a charge,” Allen said.

The rules to register to vote have not changed as a result of the Photo ID bill, he said.

“They were not effected at all by this bill,” Allen said.

Another information seminar is slated for 6pm – 8pm Thursday, February 7 in the auditorium of the County Administration Building.

More information on the new can be found at scvotes.org or pickenselections.org