There’s been ample concern from civil rights organizations that recently passed voter ID laws would serve to suppress minority turnout. But what about the rights of Republican politicians?
In South Carolina, Republican Gov. Mark Sanford was turned away from a polling location because he didn’t have his ID. Thankfully, he was able to return 90 minutes later, ID in hand.
And in Ohio, Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH) had some problems:
Chabot went into the polling place at Westwood First Presbyterian Church about 9:30 a.m. and pulled out his Ohio driverâs license to show the poll workers. They looked at his license, and told the congressman that, even though they know perfectly well who he is, his driverâs license was issued to his business office, not his home, which is his voting address.
Somewhat sheepishly, Chabot went back out into the parking lot, jumped in his 1993 Buick – the one he talked about on his campaign commercials – and started heading back to his home a few blocks away to find a proper ID.
âI guess Iâll see if I can find a utility bill,â Chabot said. âThatâs the law. You have to have proper ID.â
Chabot returned about 10 minutes later with a bank statement and a Social Security Administration statement in hand.
Of course, civil rights groups aren’t worried about Republican lawmakers. They aren’t technically a minority. Yet.
Update: The disenfranchisement continues. Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-OH) has problems with the optical scanner in her local district.
Later Update: From TPM Reader BP:
SC does not have a law requiring ID. That said, a driver license or some other documents can substitute for a misplaced voter registration card.
What happened here is the Gov left his voter card in Columbia and when he went to his alternate, a drivers license, it turned out he had the Governors Mansion address on it rather then that of his Sullivan’s Island home. Therefore no match to the poll list.
The more interesting question is who drove down his voter card, a state person or a family member.
