LEGALDEPARTMENT
SOUTHERN
REGIONALOFFICE
VOTINGRIGHTSPROJECT
AMERICANCIVILLIBERTIESUNIONFOUNOATION
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REGIONALOI'FICE
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WWW.ACI..UORGW\NVi/.VOTINGR!GHTS.0fiGNATIONAL.OFFICE125BROADSTREET,18THfLNEWYORK,NY10004..
21,00
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OFFICERSANODIRECTORS
SUSANNHEliMAN
PRESWENT
.6.NTHONYDROMERO
CXECUTIVEDIRECTOR
RICHARDZACKS
TRI':'ASU.Rf:R
AMERICANCIVil;:
CI8ERTIES
UNION
I
August5,2011Mr.T.ChristianHerrenChief,VotingSectionCivilRightsDivisionRoom7254-NWBU.S.DepartmentofJustice950PennsylvaniaAvenue,NWWashington,DC20530Re:Comment:SouthCarolinaSection5SubmissionNo.2011-2495DearMr.Herren:ThiscommentletterisinreferencetotheJune28,2011,Section5submissionfromtheStateofSouthCarolinaregardingthevotingchangessetforthinActR54(A27H3003).ActR54amendsS.C.CodeAnn.
§
7-1-25bylimitingtheacceptableformsofidentificationforpurposesofin-personvoting.Forthereasonssetforthbelow;wetheundersignedorganizationsrespectfullyrequestthattheDepartmentobjecttotheproposedvotingchangesbecausetheyareretrogressiveandwillreduceminorityvotingstrengthacrossthestate.OnMay11,2011,theSouthCarolinaGeneralAssemblypassedActR54,H3003,andGovernorNikkiHaleysignedthebillintolawonMay18,2011.SouthCarolinalawcurrentlyallowsaneligiblevotertopresentthefollowingformsofpersonalidentificationinordertovote:(1)avoterregistrationcard(whichdoesnotcontainaphotograph);(2)aSouthCarolinadriver'slicense;and(3)aSouthCarolinaDMv-issuedidentificationcard.ActR54wouldnowrequireeligiblevoterstopresentoneofthefollowingformsof
photo
identification:•aSouthCarolinadriver'slicense;•anotherformofidentificationcontainingaphotographissuedbytheDepartmentofMotorVehicles;•apassport;•amilitaryidentificationcontainingaphotographissuedbythefederalgovernment;or•aSouthCarolinavoterregistrationcardwithaphotograph.TheState'ssubmissionfailstoincludeanyinformationregardingthenumberofminoritieswholacktheacceptableformsofidentificationrequiredunderActR54,eitheraloneorincomparisontotheState'swhiteresidents.Thedatathatareavailable,however,revealthatAfrican-AmericansinSouthCarolinacontinuetobedisproportionatelyimpactedbysocialandeconomicconditionsthataffecttheir
AMERICANCiVILLIBERTiESUi1iONFOUNDAT!ON
abilitytocomplywithActR54.SouthCarolina'scurrentidentificationlawgoesmuchfurtherinprotectingthevotingrightsofminoritiesthanActR54.Inaddition,giventheinformationpresentedbeforethelegislaturewhenthebillwaspending,itisreasonableandfairtoconcludethatthelawwasenactedforadiscriminatorypurpose-namelytoreducevoterturnoutamongSouthCarolina'sAfrican-Americanvotingpopulation.BecausetheStatehasfailedtoprovidesufficientinformationfortheDepartmenttomakeawell-informeddecisionregardingitssubmission,andbecauseofthetenuousrelationshipbetweenthephotoidentificationrequirementandSouthCarolina'sjustificationforenactingthislaw,theDepartmentshouldobjecttothevotingchanges.Attheveryleast,arequestforadditionalinformationiswarrantedtodeterminewhetherSouthCarolinawilladoptprocedurestomitigatethenewlaw'sretrogressiveeffect.
A.
TheproposedamendmentstoSouthCarolina'svoteridentificationlawascontainedinActR54willhavearetrogressiveeffectonAfrican-AmericanvotersinSouthCarolina.
Section5oftheVotingRightsActrequirestheDepartmentofJusticetodenypre-clearanceofstatelegislation,rules,orregulationsaffectingvotingproceduresthateitherhaveadiscriminatorypurposeor"theeffectofdenyingorabridgingtherighttovoteonaccountofraceorcolor,"ormembershipinalanguageminority.42US.c.§1973c;
LeagueofUnitedLatinAmericanCitizensv.Perry,
548U.S.399,446(2006);
Renov.BossierParishSchoolBd.,
520U.S.471,476-80(1997).TheproceduresfortheadministrationofSection5providethattheAttorneyGeneral"willconsiderwhetherthechangeisfreeofdiscriminatorypurposeandretrogressiveeffectinlightof,andwithparticularattentionbeinggivento,therequirementsofthe14th,15th,and24thamendmentstotheConstitution,42U.S.C.
§§
1971(a)and
(b),
Sections2,4(a),4(f)(y),201,203(c),and208oftheAct.'AcoveredjurisdictionbearstheburdenofshowingthatitsproposedvotingchangesdonotviolateeitherprongofSection5.
Branch
v.
Smith,
538U.S.254,263(2003).SouthCarolinaclearlyhasnotsatisfieditsburdeninshowingthatitsvoterphotoidentificationlawisneitherretrogressivenordiscriminatoryinitspurpose.
1.
African-Americansarelesslikelythanwhitestopossessadriver'slicenseorotheridentificationissued
by
theDepartmentofMotorVehicles.
Accordingtothe2010Census,SouthCarolina'sracialmake-upis66.2%whiteand27.9%black?InJanuary2010,theSouthCarolinaStateElectionsCommissionpublishedareportwithacountybycountybreakdownofregistered
1
ProceduresfortheAdministrationofSection5oftheVotingRightsActof1965,asamended,28C.F.R.Part51.55(a).
2
SouthCarolina'sminoritypopulationalsoconsistsof5.J%HispanicsorLatinos(ofanyrace),1.3%Asians,0.4%AmericanIndianorAlaskaNatives,and0.1%ofpeoplewhoself-identifiedas"SomeOtherRace."
See
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QTPL&prodType=table
2
AMERI-CANCiV~LUSERrH::SUNIONFOUNDI\TION
votersbyracewholackadriver'slicenseorotherformofidentificationissuedbytheDepartmentofMotorVehicles(DMV).(SeeExhibitA).Theresultsdemonstratedthat,overall,therewere178,175registeredvotersinthestatewhodonotpossesseitherformofidentification.AlthoughAfrican-Americanscurrentlymakeup30.4percentofregisteredvoters,asofJanuary2010,blackvotersmadeup35.8%ofpersonswithoutaSouthCarolinadriver'slicenseorDMV-issuedidentification.Moreover,thereportshowedthatinthefollowingcountieswithanAfrican-Americanpopulationover50%,Afiican-Americanslackedadriver'slicenseorDMV-issuedidentificationathigherratesthanwhites:
REGISTEREDTOTAL
NUMBEROF
VOTERSWITHOUTPOPULATIONREGISTEREDIDsCOUNTYBLACKWHITEVOTERSBLACKWHITE
Allendale74.1%24.1%5,3988.80%2.22%Bamberg62.1%36.9%8,7075.83%1.95%Clarendon50.6%47.7%21,1675.66%2.93%Fairfield59.9%39.5%14,4083.21%1.94%Hampton54.7%43.6%12,1895.34%2.31%Lee64.9%33.9%11,3206.04%2.08%Marion56.7%41.5%20,1586.19%2.38%MarlboroS1.8%42.8%IS,7377.07%4.S1%Orangeburg62.9%3S.2%56,3726.94%2.14%Williamsburg66.3%32.3%20,6766.97%1.54%Inaddition,theCommission'sreportfurthershowedthateveninpredominatelywhitecounties,Afiican-Americanvoterswerestilllesslikelytopossessadriver'slicenseorotherformofDMV-issuedidentification:
REGISTEREDTOTAL
NUMBEROF
VOTERSWITHOUTPOPULATIONREGISTEREDIDsCOUNTYBLACKWHITEVOTERSBLACKWHITE
Barnwell45.1%53.9%12,5423.39%2.34%Calhoun43.2%54.8%9,7894.38%2.50%Darlington42.3%56.7%38,0294.03%2.66%Dillon47.1%49.3%17,9996.14%2.96%Notably,thelawdoesnotallowstudentIDstoserveasproofofidentification.ThereareeighthistoricallyblackcollegesanduniversitiesinSouthCarolina,andtheestimatednumberofstudentsattendingtheseschoolsis9,804.
3
3
TheHistoricallyBlackCollegesandUniversitiesinSouthCarolinaare:AllenUniversityinColumbia,SC;BenedictCollegeinColumbia;ClaflinCollegeinOrangeburg;ClintonJuniorCollegeinRockHill,DenmarkTechnicalCollegeinDenmark,MorrisCollegeinSumter;SouthCarolinaStateUniversityinOrangeburg;andVoorheesCollegeinDenmark.
3
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