COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Justice Department on Friday rejected South Carolina’s law requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls, saying it makes it harder for minorities to cast ballots. It was the first voter ID law to be refused by the federal agency since 1994.

The Obama administration said South Carolina’s law didn’t meet the burden under the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which outlawed discriminatory practices preventing blacks from voting. Tens of thousands of minorities in South Carolina might not be able to cast ballots under South Carolina’s law because they don’t have the right photo ID, Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez said.

South Carolina’s law was passed by a Republican-controlled Legislature and signed by GOP Gov. Nikki Haley.

The state’s Republican attorney general, Alan Wilson, vowed to fight the federal agency in court. “Nothing in this act stops people from voting,” he said.

South Carolina’s new voter ID law requires voters to show poll workers a state-issued driver’s license or ID card, a U.S. military ID or a U.S. passport.

South Carolina is among five states that passed laws this year requiring some form of ID at the polls. Those new laws also allow voters without the required photo ID to cast provisional ballots, but the voters must return to a specific location with that ID within a certain time limit for their ballots to count.

The Justice Department must approve changes to South Carolina’s election laws under the federal Voting Rights Act because of the state’s past failure to protect blacks’ voting rights. It is one of nine states that require the agency’s approval.

Justice officials are reviewing Texas’ new law. Kansas, Tennessee and Wisconsin also passed laws this year, but they are not under the agency’s review.

 

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