A brave Wisconsin woman videotaped the ordeal of getting her son a Voter ID, which is now a minimum requirement for non-drivers in the state to participate in elections.
She and her son succeeded, but only after a long process that included need to show banking statements (which at first were rejected because they didn't show enough activity).
And after finally completing the endeavor, they were told to pay $28 (a poll tax?) even though the Voter ID's are supposed to be completely free.
(Use the link in the left column to watch the video, originally submitted to youtube by madtowngirl2.)
Given the similarities of Wisconsin's state government and governor to the same ones here in South Carolina, what are we to expect from our own new Voter ID bill?
We have 178,000 registered voters without current state-issued picture identification cards. We have ample record of persons who are unable to get certified copies of their birth certificates (a requirement to get those new IDs), and due to various reasons the state Republicans never bothered to consider, apparently. For example, you need a birth certificate to get a South Carolina ID card; yet, you need a valid ID card to get a copy of your South Carolina birth certificate. How's that for a Catch 22?
(Click here to see videos telling the stories of a few Carolinians now pressed to spend as much as $1,000 to get their supposedly "free" state ID cards - they're about midway down on that page.)
And even those with state-issued IDs could face problems on election day. South Carolina IDs are valid for 10 years, after all; how many will still resemble their 10-year-old ID pictures enough in order to be allowed to exercise their right to vote?
And even though there might be a meager loophole(mail-in absentee ballots), that loophole might be closed off by the time the next election comes around.
One other key point displayed in this video: the subject is a young, white male in the northern state of Wisconsin, in which the Voting Rights Act has never needed enforcement. If this was so difficult for him, then what are older, minority South Carolinians going to face down yonder?
Care to help our state overcome this photo ID sham, and avoid our state running as low as Wisconsin is at the moment? Then lend a hand to the South Carolina Progressive Network in its efforts. (You can also issue comment to the Dept. of Justice on this subject, too.)
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