Top officials with the S.C. State Election Commission joined the call for an investigation into allegations of voter fraud after another state official estimated more than 900 people who were recorded as having voted actually were dead.
“Recent claims that more than 900 votes were cast in the name of dead people are very concerning,” Executive Director Marci Andinosaid in a statement. “These claims, if true, would mean the integrity of the election process has been compromised by illegal activity. It would mean every person’s legal vote has been diluted by illegal ones. Such a reality would strike a blow to the public’s confidence in the election process in S.C.”
State Election Commission Chairman John Hudgens joined Andino’s call for an investigation. Andino said her agency would assist any law enforcement investigation.
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On Wednesday, South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles director Kevin Schwedo testified before a South Carolina House subcommittee on election laws that his staff analyzed the records of more 239,000 voters who do not have a state driver’s license or identification card. They discovered that 37,000 of those people were dead and, of those, 957 had been recorded as casting a vote after their recorded death date.
The DMV has an interest in the issue because it would have to provide free ID cards to those who do not have them if the state’s new voter identification law is upheld. The U.S. Justice Department struck down the law on the grounds it violates residents’ civil rights , but that decision is being appealed.
Attorney General Alan Wilson has asked the SC State Law Enforcement Division to investigate the claims.
Under the South Carolina voter ID law, voters would have to show one of four types of a photo ID to cast a ballot: A South Carolina driver’s license, an SC ID card, a US military ID card or a US passport.
The justice department rejected the law, saying it would discriminate against black voters and that the state has shown no need for the law.
The Voter ID law is a contentious issue that is dividing the state down party lines. Republican leaders have insisted it is necessary to protect the integrity of the state’s elections. Democrats argue it is an attempt to prevent traditional Democratic voters – minorities and poor people – from casting ballots.
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