Democrats ruffled over Nikki Haley White status in 2001 voter ID form

Haley,39,created history this year as she was sworn in as first women governor of North Carolina.

Democrats have accused North Carolinas Indian-American Governor Nikki Haley of listing her race as white in her voter registration form in 2001 and playing on it for political convenience.

Haley,39,created history this year as she was sworn in as first women governor of North Carolina. She is also the first governor of Sikh heritage.

The local Post and Courier reported that the state Democratic Party,which first obtained the public record in this regard,is challenging whether her inconsistency on the card might have made her ineligible to vote under the states new Voter ID law.

State Democratic Party Chairman Dick Harpootlian said whether Haley listed her race as white or not doesnt really matter to him,but the issue is that the governor has shown a pattern of such actions. Haley has been appearing on television interviews where she calls herself a minority,when it suits her, Harpootlian was quoted as saying. When she registers to vote she says she is white. She has developed a pattern of saying whatever is beneficial to her at the moment, he said. She cant even tell the truth about her racial heritage.

There was no immediate response from Haleys office. The state Election Commission gives people the choice of declaring their race as white,black/African-American,Asian,Hispanic,Native American or other,the agencys spokesman Chris Whitmire said.

The commission doesnt attempt to verify a persons race,but that data is used by Justice Department to enforce fair voting practices. Collecting the information is a requirement of state law,Whitmire told the daily. If a person checks other,he or she is asked to specify.

Whitmire said he knows of no state election law,nor a definition by the state Election Commission,for the term white. Post and Courier said by making such allegations,the South Carolina Democratic Party tried to make Haley out as a liar for checking white as her race on her 2001 Lexington County voter registration application. But the application had no specific option for Indian. Her options were white,black/African-American,Asian,Hispanic,Native American or other, he said.

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The 2001 card was the only one on file in the Lexington County voter registration office,according to the Democratic party. The voter registration office in her home county of Bamberg did not have an application on file for her,the daily said.

It is not clear if Haley had declared her race differently on any earlier voter registration applications, it said. Haleys parents emigrated from India and she was born in Bamberg County in South Carolina,a county split between whites and blacks.