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Only 25 South Carolina residents have scheduled a free ride to obtain a photo ID on Wednesday as part of an effort by the state to show that its new Voter ID law isn’t discriminatory.
Gov. Nikki Haley promised anyone without proper ID that the state would offer them a free ride to get one after she signed the law, which threatens to disenfranchise about 178,000 residents, in May.
About 675 people called the DMV about the offer and the law, according to the Associated Press. Of those, 48 requested rides and only 25 have scheduled rides.
Haley said she is “pleased” with the 25 requests, according to The State: “We got 25 appointments so that’s 25 people we’re helping. I’m pleased with that.”
Unfortunately, that’s only a troubling .014 percent of the 178,000 South Carolina residents lacking proper ID—and an even smaller portion of the state's total eligible voters.
"We fielded over 600 calls of people who needed help," Haley told the AP when asked if the “real problem remains." “Our job is to help people, and I thought we thoroughly did that."
The state's DMV Executive Director Kevin Shwedo told the AP that most callers to the Voter ID hotline wanted information and not rides, adding that some traveled to the DMV on their own. The U.S. Justice Department is reviewing South Carolina’s law and has asked the state Attorney General for more information before proceeding.
Unfortunately, despite Haley's offer to help the state's residents obtain proper ID, it looks like the South Carolina's Voter ID law continues to serve only one purpose—disenfranchising voters.
Continue to follow Campus Progress for Voter ID coverage here.
Brian Stewart is a journalism network associate at Campus Progress.
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