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COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson says he will fight the Justice Department in federal court over South Carolina's voter ID law.

The federal agency on Friday rejected the law, saying it makes it harder for minorities to vote. It was the first voter ID law to be refused by the Obama administration.

Assistant U.S. Attorney General Thomas E. Perez says South Carolina's law didn't meet the burden under the Voting Rights Act and may have prevented thousands of minorities from voting because they don't have the right identification.

The Justice Department must approve changes to South Carolina's election laws because of the state's failure in the past to protect the voting rights of blacks.

Republican South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley says the rejection is more proof President Barack Obama is fighting conservative ideas.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)