Ahead of the 2012 presidential election, a fight is brewing on voter identification laws. At stake is the question of whether the problem is serious enough to threaten the results of the elections. South Carolina took an extra step to combat voter fraud in May, when Governor Nikki Haley signed a bill into law which requires voters to show government-issued photo identification. Supporters of the move say that this will curb the potential for voter impersonation. But critics say that this would disenfranchise the thousands of registered South Carolinian voters who do not have a driver’s license or other photo identification, and that voter fraud is not a major problem. Six other states have now adopted similar measures. Anna Sale, reporter for WNYC’s It’s a Free Country, talks about the controversy around voter ID initiatives.
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