The problem with age, birth certificates and S.C. voter ID

Image by Flickr user By ED́WW day_dae (esteemedhelga)

While much of the discussion surrounding South Carolina's pending voter ID rules has focused on how it will affect the poor and minorities, another segment of the population may yet have the harder time.

The elderly.

The nutshell scenario is this: To get a voter ID (and some 178,000 South Carolina voters do not own such a photo ID) you'll need a birth certificate to get it, and thanks to many folks in South Carolina not going to hospitals before the 1970s, they often may not have birth certificates.

And without that certificate you'll need a list of several documents that all show the name spelled exactly the same — and without that you'll be headed to court so that you can vote.

The State has a solid report from back in July that highlights the issue (take a read here) and the Charleston City Paper has molded the notion into how it makes Gov. Nikki Haley's six-day voter drive push a no starter (read that here.)

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