Harvey Peeler

South Carolina voters could vote early starting in 2012 but must show photo IDs to cast a ballot under a compromise Thursday that ended two days of partisan debate in the Senate.

Senators said the deal, approved 36-2, would increase voter participation by increasing when people could vote, while preventing fraud.

“It means fewer lines for the voting public in the 2012 cycle, more opportunities to vote and greater confidence in the process,” said Sen. Chip Campsen, R-Isle of Palms, among a group of senators who worked more than five hours on a compromise.

The bill requires another vote before returning to the House, which passed 67-44 last year on a party-line vote.

Republicans said voting ID is an issue of integrity. Currently, voters can present either a valid driver’s license or a voter registration card. Without a photo, Republicans say, there’s no proof the person showing the card is who they claim to be.

Democrats argued it was aimed at suppressing the minority vote, harkening to the days of poll taxes and literacy tests that barred black voters from the ballot box.

The compromise would allow residents to vote in person during a 15-day window before a statewide primary or general election, without needing an excuse. But, unlike the House version, it would continue to allow absentee voting in person up to a month early, if voters give an excuse for why they can’t vote on Election Day, such as being on vacation or working.

It delays the changes until 2012, allowing time to educate voters and for a review by the U.S. Justice Department, which has to approve any change in voting because of South Carolina’s past voting rights violations.

Sen. John Scott, D-Columbia, said he worked to give “South Carolina citizens what they really wanted: early voting,” and the extra time to locate and help voters without a photo ID was essential to his support.

“Education is always key,” said Sen. Gerald Malloy, D-Hartsville, another member of the compromise team.

The bill waives the $5 fee for a state ID for residents older than 17. Voters who still haven’t gotten the message by 2012, and show up without a picture, could still vote a provisional ballots that aren’t counted until proof is provided.

Considering all the safeguards, Malloy thinks the Justice Department would approve.

Senate Democrats had been blocking the legislation by offering 1,000 amendments – wheeled in Senate chambers in six large copy-paper boxes. They included exemptions for each of the state’s 46 counties, specifics on photo dimensions, age exemptions and even one for staying at a Holiday Inn Express.

Senators hadn’t gotten past the first amendment during the filibuster that started Wednesday afternoon.

State Election Commission data shows 178,175, or nearly 7 percent, of South Carolina’s 2.6 million registered voters have neither a state-issued driver’s license or photo ID.

Republicans said that in a post-Sept. 11 world, everyone should be accustomed to flashing ID.

Sen. Larry Grooms, R-Bonneau, said he recognized Democrats’ sensitivities to South Carolina’s Jim Crow-era past, but he took “great offense” to comparing requiring a photo ID to lynching blacks trying to vote.

“No doubt, terrible injustices have occurred through the state’s history. That doesn’t mean we turn a blind eye to voter fraud today,” he said. “Saying requiring a picture is the same as murdering people is wrong.”

Electionline.org, a Pew Center on the States project, says three states – Florida, Georgia and Indiana – require voters to show photo ID when they vote.

Four states request it, but allow voters to cast regular ballots if they don’t show a photo ID.

Nineteen states, including South Carolina, require some form of ID, but not specifically one with a photo.

The states with photo requirements have faced legal fights. The League of Women Voters challenged Indiana’s law and it was overturned because it required verification from people voting in person but not people voting by mail. The Indiana Supreme Court will hear an appeal in March.

Charlotte Observer