There’s good news and bad news regarding the recent rulings on voter ID laws in South Carolina. The bad news: The law passed, now requiring voters to have a valid form of photo ID. The good news: The law won’t come into effect this election season due to the fact that there’s not enough time to educate voters about the law.
The voter ID law has been a touchy subject in our state. Implemented for the sake of ensuring voter integrity and preventing fraud, opponents have argued against it, saying that requiring valid photo IDs will dissuade minority groups from voting.
However, there’s another catch to the law: While a military ID is considered valid, a student ID is not. State Attorney General Alan Wilson’s argument is that student IDs don’t prove residency — that students are too “transient.” However, he neglected to address the fact that a military ID doesn’t exactly prove residency either. The whole argument is irrelevant to begin with because residency is already proven during the registration process and is confirmed again at the polls.
Our main issue with it though? Banning students IDs will only serve to isolate those who are unable to acquire other forms of ID, such as a driver’s license or a passport, and small measures like this can have proportionally large effects on us. Students are already unlikely to vote, and prohibiting usage of students IDs as a form of verification isn’t exactly encouraging them.
Luckily for this election season, we got let off the hook, but we should keep this issue in mind for the future. Contrary to what Attorney General Wilson may think, the student vote does matter, and this law, if not changed, will only serve to silence our voice.
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