Gov. Nikki Haley, Attorney General Alan Wilson, House Speaker Bobby Harrell, State Sen. Kevin Bryant Discuss Voter ID

Press Conference

Governor Nikki Haley, Attorney General Alan Wilson, House Speaker Bobby Harrell and State Sen. Kevin Bryant today discussed South Carolina's fight to protect the integrity of the election process and the state's response to the federal government's latest attempt to block South Carolina's Voter ID law during a Statehouse press conference.

Gov. Haley said, "This is a very important and pressing issue. We were fortunate enough to have the members of the House and members of the Senate listen to the will of the people - that we want to protect the integrity of our voting process. If you have to show a picture ID to buy Sudafed, if you have to show a picture ID to get on a plane, you should have to show a picture ID to do that one thing that is so important to us - vote. There is nothing we want more than to make sure every person in South Carolina can vote. And we're not just talking about it, we did something about it."

Attorney General Wilson said, "What we intend to do is file suit...against DOJ in district court in the next week or two… and to ensure that no voter is suppressed in their right to vote and that the integrity of the electoral process is protected."

House Speaker Harrell said, "The SCDMV has shown that over 99% of South Carolina's voters have been issued the photo IDs required to cast a secure ballot, and the law made them free for the few people who don't have one. These are facts the Justice Department chose to ignore when they rejected our state's Voter ID law. Our citizens want us to exercise our constitutional right to secure our state's election process from fraud and abuse with Voter ID. Given all the facts, it is clear how unjust President Obama's Department of Justice has been to our state and why state lawmakers are supporting the appeal of the rejection."

State Sen. Bryant said, "When I'm not here, I'm a pharmacist. When you come in my store, and you refill a narcotic prescription, I have to take and look at a picture ID to verify that you're getting your prescription. Let's talk about voter suppression. If you vote, and someone else votes fraudulently, they've suppressed your vote. It's exactly the opposite of what the Obama administration has accused us of."