As anyone who reads my blog knows, I don't think very much of the PA Voter ID law, because it doesn't stop fraud, only voting. I do think you should have ID to REGISTER to vote. I started working the polls over 25 years ago and still am an inspector of elections who has sworn each election to keep them free and fair and that is exactly what I have done. NO one is more against election fraud than I, but I also fight for no one legally registered to vote to be disenfranchised.
The arguments for PA's law is based on rhetoric and not logic or facts. I know, how dare I bring those two things into the conversation.
For your reading amusement, I would like to highlight some of the more popular talking points for voter ID and give you my take on them, based on the PA law and how the election process actually works here.
1. Illegal Aliens are voting. Just how would they do that? If they just went to the polling place, with all those officials around, (you know a place were someone who is trying to stay under the radar would go) and tried to vote, their name would not be in the voter poll book so we would call the county with their name and address, (like they would stay around for that) and check their registration. They wouldn't be there so they don't get to vote.
2. Illegal voter registrations. The PA law doesn't address that, but you do at least need the last 4 digits of your social security number on the registration form which is checked with the social security administration.
3. Zombie Apocalypse voters or dead people voting. Birth dates are in the voter poll book so no one 40 is going to come in impersonating a person 90. That person would also have to be a clairvoyant forger because the signature would have to match the signature in the voter poll book. Signature doesn't match, you are asked for ID, no ID you fill in a provisional ballot, if you insist.
4. More votes than registered voters in a district. You can't vote if your name is not in the voter poll book. If it is not there, and you say it should be, we call the county and find out were you are registered to vote. If they say you should vote here you vote. If they say you are not registered you do not vote. If they say you should be voting in another district, you will be given directions. If you still insist you should be voting there, you get a provisional ballot which will only be counted if you can prove that you should be voting here.
5. Everyone should have ID. I always find this one amusing because these are the same people who don't want too much government and are against a national ID card. Do you know that more than half of the IDs valid for voting in PA were non-existent when the law was passed and that's why so many people don't have ID to vote? Veterans' Photo IDs don't have expiration dates, 97 of the 110 PA Colleges and Universities didn't have expiration dates, PA care facility IDs didn't have expiration dates, and my favorite, PA state employee ID cards don't have expiration dates. This is why the PA supreme court justices judicial ID cards that would open many doors, is not good enough to use for voting.
6. Voting multiple times. Since you do not need a current address on your ID, the PA law will not stop that.
Do you know that usually when the PA assembly passes a law that another agency would have to oversee there is a 1 -2 year waiting period to get out all the bugs? The Dept. of State didn't even start addressing this until the end of July with a letter that did NOT tell the people on the no match list they were on the no match list. Yes you read that right. They have changed the parameters for getting ID NINE (9) times, leaving everyone, especially staff at PennDOT locations totally confused. And that's only the beginning. I really really know this subject and if you would like to learn more, post a comment.
If you really care about free and fair elections, don't post your drivel in the comment section, get off your tush and help at the polls. Don't disenfranchise people who have been legally voting for years. You can also sign and share my petition to postpone the voter ID law so the 1/2 million legally registered voters in PA who are at risk for losing their right to vote this November, don't. http://signon.org/sign/postpone-pa-voter-id
Item #3 of the voter registration form requests Driver's LIcense ID as first option. Most people will give that. The second option is to give the last 4 digits of SSN. Most people wouldn't need to do that. And there is even a third option, which is to "check here" if you don't have either.
Citizenship isn't needed for SSN, either, since you only need a work permit, and sometimes not even that, if you can prove you need it for another purpose. An ID requirement will prevent many types of registration fraud, since while groups like ACORN could falsely register "people", they couldn't produce them with valid ID's. Thanks for your work as an inspector at the polls. I've done the same in Indiana, which is the state that had its voter ID pass US Supreme Court scrutiny. As I've discussed before in these forums, the ID requirement actually helps the polls run smoothly, especially at the sign-in which can be one of the bottlenecks. With many voters needing to get re-directed to the right place, a phone call with data from the ID in hand makes the call very quick. No one gets turned away, since they can always vote a provisional ballot, and that really didn't happen much at all. And in PA, you don't even need ID when you go to the courthouse to validate your vote - all you need to do is sign an affadavit that you couldn't get an ID without some cost to you.
The indigent clause is included only as a very specific case, probably anticipating future legal challenges on theories that the poor would be disinfranchised, so the legislature wanted to show they covered adequately. But the operative words are “OR” and “ANY OTHER GROUNDS”, which broadens the availability of provisional balloting to any and every reason for not having the ID. HB934 of 2011 specifically says: “IF ANY OF THE FOLLOWING APPLY THE ELECTOR SHALL BE PERMITTED TO CAST A PROVISIONAL BALLOT IN ACCORDANCE WITH SUBSECTION (A.4): (1) THE ELECTOR IS UNABLE TO PRODUCE PROOF OF IDENTIFICATION: (I) ON THE GROUNDS THAT THE ELECTOR IS INDIGENT AND UNABLE TO OBTAIN PROOF OF IDENTIFICATION WITHOUT THE PAYMENT OF A FEE; OR (II) ON ANY OTHER GROUNDS.”
AFFIRMATION THAT VOTER DOES NOT POSSESS PROOF OF IDENTIFICATION FOR VOTING PURPOSES By signing this form, I declare under oath or affirmation that (1) I am a registered voter of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania or have applied to register to vote; and (2) I do not possess proof of identification as defined at section 102(z.5)(2) of the Pennsylvania Election Code (25 P.S. § 2602(z.5)(2)) and require proof of identification for voting purposes. In particular, I affirm that I do not possess any of the following forms of identification as defined at section 102(z.5)(2) of the Pennsylvania Election Code: - Identification issued by the United States Government that includes my name, a photograph, and an expiration date that is not expired.* - Identification issued by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania that includes my name, a photograph, and an expiration date that is not expired (unless issued by the Department of Transportation, then the expiration of the identification cannot be more than 12 months past the expiration date). - Identification issued by a municipality of this Commonwealth to an employee of that municipality that includes my name, a photograph, and an expiration date that is not expired.
- Identification issued by a Pennsylvania care facility that includes my name, a photograph, and an expiration date that is not expired. *In the case of a document from an agency of the armed forces of the United States or their reserve components, including the Pennsylvania National Guard, that establishes the voter as a current member or a veteran of the United States Armed Forces or National Guard and that does not designate a specific date on which the document expires, the document must include a notation indicating that the expiration is indefinite. I affirm that I do not have any of the forms of identification listed above and require proof of identification for voting purposes, and I acknowledge that that this affirmation is made subject to the penalties of 18 Pa.C.S. § 4904 (unsworn falsification to authorities), which may include punishment of a fine of at least $1,000, a term of imprisonment of not more than two years, or both. ______________________________ Date of Signing Signature of Voter Printed Name of Voter
Yes we will still have to ask for ID, just like we did in April, but everyone registered to vote in our poll book, whose signature matches (or they have to show ID) will get to vote
Why is it so great when the mega rich and corporations park their money offshore and take every loophole they can to pay little or no taxes. Praise is heaped upon them, but if someone gets food stamps because they don't make a living wage they are vilified. I will say I think there should be a level playing field and all income taxed the same. I believe food stamps and the earned income tax credit are subsidies for business so they don't have to pay their employees a living wage. Just step back a second and let that sink in. Don't react too quickly, think outside the box we've been put in. Who benefits and who pays. It's follow the money every time.