South Carolina's "Voter I.D." law requiring someone desiring to vote to present a form of photo identification has been upheld in court and has worked without incident for nearly two years, state Attorney General Alan Wilson proudly told Newsmax on Wednesday.
Wilson, who was in Washington, D.C., for a series of meetings, has long defended the controversial measure passed by the Palmetto State legislature in 2011. It was subsequently held up during a prolonged court challenge.
"Our office oversaw the defense during the litigation process," Wilson said, recalling how the measure had gone to the federal appellate court for the District of Columbia circuit. Although lawyers retained by his office argued much of the case, the attorney general himself made the closing argument.
"I said at the time [2012] it was not about President [Barack] Obama's re-election," Wilson said, "and that there is lots more fraud in local elections that are decided by one or two votes. In fact, I said if they wanted the law's implementation delayed until 2013, that was 'perfectly fine' with our office."
That's just what happened. A three-judge panel for the D.C. Circuit ruled unanimously to uphold the voter I.D. law.
"And we won payment of attorneys' fees," Wilson added.
Since the law went on the books, Wilson said complaints of fraud have been "minimal" and there has been no complaining from people on the grounds that their access to voting is limited.
"We protect the access of all voters," he told Newsmax. "Simply put, the law requires any one of four forms of identification to vote: a driver's license, passport, military identification card, or voter registration card.
"If someone wanting to vote has none of these, they can still vote, but they must sign an affidavit as to who they are and that they are registered voters so we can confirm this."
These days, Wilson is pursuing other measures on an agenda that supporters say is ambitious. He thinks he can persuade the legislature to enact "meaningful ethics reform" over the next year.
Moreover, Wilson said, "our state needs to reform its judicial selection system. The legislature appoints the 10-member commission that recommends judicial nominees: five are named by the speaker of the state House, two by the president pro tem of the state Senate, and three by the state Senate Judiciary Committee."
Wilson added that he calls this "the legis-dicial system" because the judiciary submits three candidates for the legislature to vote on.
"We need greater executive input in judicial selection, more balance, and term limits for top positions in all three branches of government," said the attorney general, noting that the state's chief justice also has a 10-year term "that could be limited."
Since the son of conservative Rep. Joe Wilson won his second term last fall as the top vote-getter in all statewide races with a Democrat and a Republican candidate, speculation has been mounting that he would run for governor in 2018, when incumbent GOP Gov. Nikki Haley must by law step down after two terms.
"I haven't thought about 2018 much," Wilson said. "Let's just say for now I don't plan to be a lame-duck attorney general."
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax.