Civil and voting rights groups urge the Justice Department to reject South Carolina’s photo ID law, stating in an 18-page letter that the new law is “racially discriminatory and will have a retrogressive impact on the voting rights of minorities in South Carolina.”
“Advocates say it will cut down on voting fraud while opponents say it will disenfranchise as many as 180,000 South Carolina blacks who have less access to photo IDs than whites,” the Associated Press reports.
“Under the 1965 Voting Rights Act, the Justice Department must approve changes in the voting laws of South Carolina as well as other states with a past history of suppressing minority voting. The Justice Department has until Aug. 28 to review the new law.”
The groups who signed the letter include the ACLU, League of Women Voters, Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Brennan Center for Justice, and South Carolina lawfirm, Derfner, Altman, and Wilborn.