SLED Investigating Dead People Voting
Office of the Speaker
SOUTH CAROLINA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 12, 2012
Contact: Greg Foster
(803) 734-3125
SLED Investigating Reports of Dead People Voting
New fraud concerns make strong case for Voter ID appeal even stronger
(Columbia, SC) – To secure our state elections and the integrity of every ballot, South Carolina lawmakers passed a Voter ID law last year supported by more than ¾ of all citizens.
House Speaker Bobby Harrell said, “Lacking a photo ID requirement makes it difficult, if not impossible, to prove or even recognize some types of potential voter fraud. Many opportunities where fraud could occur would easily be prevented with Voter ID, or at a minimum, make it very difficult to cast a ballot from beyond the grave.”
A House Judiciary Sub-committee hearing was held yesterday on questionable data reported by the state Election Commission on the number of SC voters currently lacking photo IDs. The revelation of a SLED investigation into hundreds of reported cases where votes were cast by individuals after the date of their deaths raised serious questions of possible voter fraud.
- 37,295 people listed by the Election Commission as needing photo IDs are deceased
- Of those, 957 were found to have voted AFTER the recorded date of their deaths, according to the SC DMV
“Dead people voting – this reeks of voter fraud tales usually reserved for Chicago political folklore, not South Carolina,” Speaker Harrell said.
A SC DMV review of the 240,000 voters (<9% of all registered SC voters) the Election Commission claimed did not have photo IDs, showed the real number could be less than 28,000:
- 37,295 are deceased
- 20,508 did in fact currently possess the necessary photo identification
- 154,258 individuals had previously been issued SC photo IDs but were canceled either because they had declared residency in another state or the ID had expired
- Additionally – 334 voters were registered at the same address, One voter was listed as being 130 years old, 25 voters were registered at a Correctional Center
“Yesterday’s breaking news of a SLED investigation into hundreds of reported cases where dead people voted raises some very serious concerns of potential voter fraud that must be addressed. It also validates our hard-fought efforts to secure our state elections by passing a Voter ID law,” Harrell commented. “The one positive thing this disturbing new information of possible fraud does, is it makes our already strong challenge of the Justice Department’s denial even stronger.”
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****Note****
SC’s Voter ID Law & Other Voter ID Facts:
- Voter ID was upheld as Constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court
- Voter ID was recently precleared by the Department of Justice in another Southern state with voter identification requirements more strict than SC’s law
- Voter ID laws have been adopted in both Republican and Democrat led states
- Brings needed security to election process and integrity to every ballot
- Employs commonly used, everyday photo identification methods also necessary to do things like: cash a check, board a plane or buy cold medicine
- SC law made the necessary photo IDs available to citizens free of charge
- Voters lacking the necessary identification on election day can still cast a ballot after signing an affidavit affirming their identity
- Federal law ID requirements to obtain entitlements (like Medicaid) are more strict than SC’s Voter ID law
Given all these facts supporting the case for a Voter ID law in South Carolina, many were surprised when the DOJ denied preclearance for our state’s new law. Further analysis has shown that the DOJ based their rejection on what has been shown to be severely flawed data and is a leading reason why strong support is being given to our state’s appeal of this decision.




11:50 PM
As a Democrat, I have to agree with this one. I think everyone should show a picture ID when they go to the poles to vote. It certainly is one of the most important things we can do as citizens. I do not understand the objections to it. The poor and the elderly already have to have ID to obtain any social services such as social security, Medicare and Medicaid. Everyone should be grateful for a system that prevents voter fraud and makes our election process secure. If people were always honest, there would be no need for picture IDs but sadly that is just not the way things are anymore.
7:20 PM
Snicker chortle BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA
I was a poll manager for the State of SC for 10 years. Every year we would get the voter registration lists, and go through them, marking who was dead, who had moved, etc. Every election year the lists would come back with those names still on them. Every election year the dead would vote – not just in our precinct, but in neighboring precincts as well. We called SLED numerous times and told them about it; asked for an investigation. They would hem and har and pretend to do something, but it would always come back “unfounded”. SLED is a ring of incompetents who do not serve the law, but whomever is in power – and they know who REALLY holds the reins of power in SC.