Senators Leatherman, Knotts, O’Dell and Rankin Identified as Culprits

Legislation requiring voters to prove who they are when they vote by presenting identification failed to pass the South Carolina Senate last week. The legislation required identification by a South Carolina drivers license, South Carolina official identification card, a U. S. Passport, a U. S. Government identification or a voter identification card with a photo ID in order to vote in South Carolina.

Passage of the bill to close a clear loophole in the current law that allows voter fraud and abuse was the top priority for the South Carolina Republican Party this year.

Republicans had sufficient votes to override a Democrat veto led by Senator Brad Hutto, but four Republican Senators held out and refused to help their colleagues override the veto.

South Carolina GOP Chairman Karen Floyd expressed her “deep disappointment” that the Senate with a “substantial Republican majority could not break the filibuster.” She named the culprits who would not join their Republican colleagues to vote for cloture. They are Senators Leatherman, O’Dell, Rankin and Knotts. Floyd notes that Knotts agreed to vote for cloture after it was too late.

Chairman Floyd said, “The South Carolina Senate had a wonderful opportunity to pass new Voter ID legislation this year. Such a reform would have gone a long way in preventing voter fraud and abuse… We will continue to fight for this issue, and will not hesitate to make it known exactly why the bill did not pass this year.”

The South Carolina House passed the bill 15 months ago.

Floyd said it is worth noting the Republican Senators who fought the hardest for this bill. She listed them as Majority Leader Peeler, Senators Campsen and Senator Phil Shoopman who represents Senate District 5 in Greenville County.

“To let this single Senator hold our entire state hostage, while Republicans in the Senate hold enough votes to end the filibuster, is an unbelievable extension of personal privilege to the detriment of the needs of South Carolina,” said House Majority Leader Kenny Bingham. “It’s a sad state of affairs, but as conservatives have seen over the past eight years, this is politics as usual in the Senate.”

“The House members of the conference committee worked hard to craft a compromise that was acceptable to the Republicans in the House, our party, and the Senate Republicans,” said Assistant Majority Leader Bruce Bannister. “Our Senate Republican colleagues are giving a single Democrat the personal privilege of holding hostage our party’s single most important issue for 2010.”

The failure of RINO Republicans to oppose voter fraud and abuse and adhere to traditional conservative values is a motivating force behind the determination of conservatives to clean the ranks of Republicans in name only and has generated a groundswell of support for reform minded candidates such as Nikki Haley.

 

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