Arguing last month that the voter ID law she signed into law in May wasn’t discriminatory, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley offered to give voters free rides to obtain their photo ID from the DMV. 22 people took her up on it.
The Associated Press reports that 675 people called the agency seeking information on the law, 48 people requested a ride for Wednesday and about 22 have rides set up. That’s out of about 178,000 South Carolina voters who officials believe don’t have a photo identification.
“We found that a lot of people had gotten their own transportation and gone ahead and done it on their own,” Parks told the AP.
Meanwhile, the Justice Department is waiting to hear back from South Carolina after they asked for more information on how the law would be implemented. Because South Carolina has a history of discrimination, they are one of the states required to have changes to their voting laws precleared by officials in the Civil Rights Division under Section Five of the Voting Rights Act. Once the feds receive the additional information, DOJ will have 60 days to make a determination on whether South Carolina can go ahead with the photo ID requirement.
