South Carolina ID Law Causing Racial Tension

South Carolina is battling the U.S. government in a racially charged conflict that is drawing heated rhetoric from Republican presidential candidates. A new state law that would require residents to produce a photo ID before they could vote. Federal officials say it could disproportionately keep black voters away from the polls. Nationwide studies have indicated that African Americans, Latinos, the elderly, people with disabilities and students are less likely to have a photo ID than other voting groups, in part because of the expense involved in obtaining one. The Justice Department blocked the law on December 23 on the grounds that it would disproportionately affect minority voters. Republican presidential candidates call it another example of Obama's overly intrusive government. Texas Governor Rick Perry said Saturday at a candidates' forum in Charleston, "Each of our states are under assault right now by this administration," "we may be under assault, South Carolina, they're actually at war with you." Republican candidates are arguing for states' rights as they emphasize their small government credentials. The cry for states' rights was used to defend slavery before the Civil War and racial segregation during the post-World War battles over civil rights. Senator Rick Santorum said last week the coming election would be the most important since 1860, the year before the Civil War began. U.S. Representative Jim Clyburn, a South Carolina Democrat and the highest-ranking African American in Congress, says some candidates have been using coded phrases to play up racial tension. "What we hear more and more today is people picking up what I call 21st-century words and phrases to transmit the same thoughts that went into the political procedure years ago." About 200,000 registered voters, in South Carolina, do not have a driver's license or other state-issued ID, according to the state election commission. "If the only people who vote in elections are law-abiding, hardworking citizens who are deeply committed to America, the left wing of the Democratic Party will cease to exist," Gingrich said on Friday at a campaign stop in Duncan, South Carolina.