COLUMBIA, S.C. - Civil rights leaders disturbed by Governor Nikki Haley’s stance on issues such as requiring voters to show their IDs at the polls are reminding the governor that she is a minority, too.
“She couldn’t vote before 1965, just as I couldn’t,’’ said the Rev. Jesse Jackson, referring to the Voting Rights Act that abolished poll taxes, literacy tests, and other ways whites across the Deep South kept minorities from voting.
Jackson and other critics have said the pending voter ID law is merely a new, covert effort to take away the right to vote from older blacks and poor people, who historically tend to vote for Democrats and are less likely to have a driver’s license or other government-issued ID.
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Both Haley’s parents were born in India and came to South Carolina before she was born. Haley - a Republican who is the state’s first female governor - never dwells on her heritage, but she has occasionally mentioned it, usually when talking about overcoming adversity.
The governor has said the measure is needed to prevent voter fraud.
“Those who see race in this issue are those who see race in every issue, but anyone looking at this law honestly will understand it is a commonsense measure to protect our voting process. Nothing more, nothing less,’’ said Haley’s spokesman, Rob Godfrey.