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US News: South Carolina: No racial aim in ID law
WASHINGTON, Aug. 28 (UPI) -- The chief authors of South Carolina's voter identification law dispute accusations the statute is intended to suppress black voter turnout.
Republican lawmakers Alan Clemmons and Chip Campsen said their legislation would combat election fraud and is not racially motivated, McClatchy Newspapers reported Tuesday.
The two were questioned in federal court by lawyers from the U.S. Justice Department and civil rights groups who charge the purpose of the law is to suppress the votes of African-Americans who overwhelmingly support Democratic candidates.
Staff attorney Nancy Abudu of the American Civil Liberties Union said requiring voters to show a photo ID "disproportionately impacts minorities, the elderly and other groups."