WASHINGTON — South Carolina’s requirement that voters show photo identification in order to cast a ballot faced sharp questioning from federal judges who asked whether it could be enforced in the November general election.
A special panel of three federal judges in Washington heard arguments Monday on whether South Carolina’s measure requiring residents to show federal- or state-issued photo ID at polling stations significantly burdens minority-group voters in violation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
The judges, who must sign off on the measure, appeared skeptical that the state would have enough time to get the law in place for use on Nov. 6, noting that many state-imposed deadlines for implementation expired last year.
“Are you urging us to pre-clear it for 2012 assuming we can get an opinion out in a week or a little over a week?” U.S. District Judge John Bates asked a lawyer for the state during more than two hours of argument.
“We are, your honor,” H. Christopher Bartolomucci, a lawyer for South Carolina, told the judges. “Obviously, we’d be satisfied with a ruling of pre-clearance after this election.”
Bartolomucci said voters who don’t have the required photo ID would be allowed to cast provisional ballots.
The judges also questioned during Bartolomucci’s closing arguments whether South Carolina could wait until 2014 to implement the law.
South Carolina is among at least four states awaiting decisions on the legality of new voter identification requirements passed by Republican controlled legislatures.
At issue are proposed changes in procedures that Republican lawmakers say are necessary to prevent fraud. Democrats and liberal activist groups argue the steps are aimed at limiting votes for President Barack Obama and other Democratic candidates for local and federal offices.
South Carolina is one of 16 jurisdictions with a history of voting-rights violations that need either approval from the Justice Department or a special panel of federal judges in Washington to change election procedures under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act. South Carolina went to court after the Department of Justice blocked the law, saying it diminishes voting rights for members of minority groups.
Last month, photo requirements in Texas were rejected by a different three-judge panel in Washington which said it “imposes strict, unforgiving burdens on the poor and racial minorities” in violation of Section 5.
South Carolina’s law requires residents to present one of five approved state- or federal-issued photo IDs. It did away with a non-photo voter registration card in favor of one bearing the voter’s photo that would be issued free of charge to all residents.
Front Section, Pages 3 on 09/25/2012