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Test Run of New Voter ID Law on Tuesday

Poll workers are required to ask voters for ID on Tuesday. Voters will need to have a photo ID to vote in the general election in November.

Polling places are preparing for the November 2012 general election when all voters - no matter how many years they have been voting - must show photo ID thanks to a new state law.

First-time voters will be asked on Tuesday to provide ID before voting in the primary election.

Poll workers are required to ask all voters for ID.

Do you think voters should be required to show a photo ID? Tell us in the comments section below.

Acceptable forms of ID include:

  • Pennsylvania driver’s license
  • Non-driver’s license photo identification
  • Valid U.S. passport
  • U.S. military ID
  • Employee photo ID given through federal, state, county or municipal government
  • Photo ID card from an accredited Pennsylvania public or private institute of higher education
  • Photo ID cards from Pennsylvania care facilities including long-term care, assisted living and personal care homes

Voters who do not have one of the above listed forms of ID can get a free photo ID at a Pennsylvania Driver's License Center.

To find the Driver's License Center nearest you, and to learn what identification and residency documentation you will need to get a photo ID, or for more information, visit www.VotesPa.com or call 1-877-VotesPA (1-877-868-3772).   

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Rosemary B April 24, 2012 at 12:21 pm
I don't consider it a regulation but a protection. It protects that I have one vote and it is protected for me. No one else will be able to use my name and vote in a way I don't want elsewhere, therefore canceling out my vote. Votes can be dangerous if they are being cast fraudulently.
Jim Kahle April 24, 2012 at 12:48 pm
Show your I.D. already!!
How many times are we asked for it at the bank or a convenience store? Heck...I get "carded" at the Auto Zone every time I use my debit card! Just because this is something new... it immediately becomes a conspiracy or a political brew-ha-ha. Other states have required this for YEARS!!! Open your wallet or pocketbook...show your ID...and VOTE!! End of story!
Rosemary B April 24, 2012 at 12:49 pm
I'm sorry, but Birth Certificates should not be used by anyone over the age of 18 for the purposes of ID. And if you live in a big city you can easily take mass transit over to City Hall and get a non-driver photo id. Also, Pa. College id is acceptable according to this article.
Rosemary B April 24, 2012 at 12:53 pm
My 88 yr old mother made me take her to get a non-drivers photo ID recently. Not so she could vote. It was just in case she won big at the casino, so she could claim her winnings! I think if we can require ID to collect casino winnings we can require ID to vote!
Heather N. April 24, 2012 at 01:21 pm
Ted, those first two stories you noted are actually two stories about the same incident, and that incident, along with that in the third link you noted, both involved some workers in their late teens and early 20's from an organization that no longer exists (ACORN). In neither case were any fraudulent votes actually cast. Rather, the fraudulent registrations were filed by the young workers in order to meet a daily quota that had been imposed upon them by the organization so that they could get their daily pay. Certainly inexcusable, and illegal, but not at the heart of the matter. The last two stories are both related to absentee ballots. How, exactly, would the new ID law prevent fraudulent absentee ballots from being cast?
Rosemary B April 24, 2012 at 01:27 pm
It is a shame that an honorable man like your father will not have an open mind and look at the issues and vote on individual issues and will let this one thing, that I feel protects the sanctity of my vote, keep him from voting for that party ever again. Regardless, I still thank him for his service.
Michael Eddinger April 24, 2012 at 01:38 pm
Oh ya... there is no budget crisis when we are spending $1.4 TRILLION dollars more per year than we take in. No crisis there.... Republicans are trying to address the issue. Obama has done NOTHING except increase spending dramatically.
Michael Eddinger April 24, 2012 at 01:47 pm
Sometimes truth is bizarre... many things the Democrats do is bizarre. Spending $1.4 Trillion more than we have is bizarre..... focusing on Obamacare the first two years in office instead of the economy is bizzare..... saying that increasing the supply of oil will not lower the price, when increasing the supply of natural gas has dropped the price 40% in the last 18 months, is bizarre...... Giving Solyndra 1/2 a billion dollars when you own staff tells you they don't have a viable business plan is bizarre.... promising to close Gitmo in a year and not doing it is bizarre..... holding up an oil pipeline from Canada is bizarre.... selling guns to Mexian drug lords so you can "prove" the guns come from the U.S. is bizarre... Spending most of your time as president doing fund raisers for the last 18 months is bizarre.... Arguing that we need to tax people who make $1 million dollars, which will raise $5 billion a year, while our deficit is $1,500 BILLION a year, is bizarre.....
Finding anyone who will vote for Obama again, despite the horrific job Obama has done, is bizarre. See? No shortage of TRUE bizarre events.
Michael Eddinger April 24, 2012 at 01:49 pm
Ya, it will disenfranchise all the illegals who vote, and all the fraud that occurs. Some call that voter fraud.
Michael Eddinger April 24, 2012 at 01:53 pm
You don't have to wait. Just do some research. You'll find dozens of cases of voter fraud. And those are only the people who were caught. I'll await your evidence that there is no fraud. You don't have any, because there has been fraud every since the country was founded.
Michael Eddinger April 24, 2012 at 01:58 pm
Opposing fair pay for women.... source please? Gerrymandering districts? That was invented by the Democrats to create districts where minorities would become a majority. Needless voter ID bills? Only needless if you support voter fraud... like most Democrats do. And today at the polls, it's a primary. So it will be a bit hard to vote ourside your registered party.
Rosemary B April 24, 2012 at 02:38 pm
Just got back from voting. Proudly showed my picture ID and told the elderly lady working the poll that I support this law because it protects my vote. She told me that quite a few people had given her a hard time about it. I think those people should be ashamed of themselves and that the poll workers should be thanked for their service.
M. Joseph April 24, 2012 at 02:39 pm
This is clearly a political issue on both sides and nothing more, as is evident by the some of the hateful comments i am reading here. Its certainly not about protecting our rights to vote. Even the "proof" of rampant voter fraud posted here is a joke. Both political parties are guilty of taking away our liberties (patriot act anyone?) all in the name of protecting us from the current boogey man who wants to "destroy" us.
Bill Whitney April 24, 2012 at 03:11 pm
Michael, let me try this again: YOU CAN'T PROVE A NEGATIVE. Stop asking people to try. You're insulting the general intelligence even further.
Bill Whitney April 24, 2012 at 03:13 pm
But Ron, that action is now, with the passing of this law, contingent on possessing the "proper" paperwork. It's not going to be as simple as saying, this is who I am, I came to vote. There will be people who will be denied their legitimate right to vote based upon the particularities of the law. That seems, to me, if not a constitutional violation, then at least pushing at the edges of one.
M. Joseph April 24, 2012 at 03:22 pm
M.E.
where is the evidence that the fraud rate is high?
M. Joseph April 24, 2012 at 03:28 pm
Bill,
Michael is only interested in blaming democrats for everything. This isn't about fraud at all. Its obvious by his posts. Fraud is a bipartisian issue, but it seems that certain right wingers only pay attention if a democrat is involved.
Michael Eddinger April 24, 2012 at 03:42 pm
Exactly. You can't prove a negative. And many links have been provided showing there is fraud. Bingo. We need voter ID. See how simple that was?
Michael Eddinger April 24, 2012 at 03:43 pm
M. Joseph. OK< now you agree there is fraud, you even state it's bi-partisan. OK, so you agree we need voter ID to cut down on fraud... both sides do it.
M. Joseph April 24, 2012 at 04:27 pm
Of course there is fraud. Always will be. Fake ID's are easy to get, too. I dont believe for a second that requiring people to show ID's will change anything. Those who want to break the law will just find another way around it. This requirement will make no difference. Its just and attempt to disenfranchise a certain segment of voters. Again I believe this is a purely political move. Unless someone can show where voter fraud actually changed an outcome, i think its just one more example of Politicians inventing a problem so they can come along and save the day.
Ronnie DelBacco April 24, 2012 at 05:25 pm
Rosemary, As usual, its the democrats encouraging others to harass poll workers today. I too will proudly show my ID and thank them for their service.
Robert Sentner April 24, 2012 at 06:40 pm
Simple question, how is asking to show your ID taking away our liberty ??? what are you loosing by showing who you are ?? not being smart I just don't understand the big deal about showing someone your ID.
srodham69 April 24, 2012 at 10:23 pm
The agenda of this and other laws which suppress liberty are orchestrated by ALEC who owns these new republican governors. It's an effort to disenfranchise the black vote, which sways elections because of the high populations in urban areas. It's really kind of frightening how those who pretend to believe in personal liberty have bought into their agenda against the poor, the minorities, and the women.
Robert Sentner April 24, 2012 at 10:34 pm
Once again someone explain how showing someone an ID is surpressing your liberty.... and the whole disenchant the black vote is a bunch of hog wash, sorry.
srodham69 April 24, 2012 at 11:09 pm
And I would think at this point the Founding Fathers, particularly Jefferson, would weep on how certain groups use their careful crafted Constitution to go into a voting booth to take away the personal rights of others. I don't live in a Communist nation. I registered to vote, I put my address and citizenship info on my form, I was registered to a party. My name is on the roster. What is ID for? Voter suppression. 21 million Americans do not have the specifically required ID to vote in November. Want to try to profile that? A solution looking for a problem. We have 4-10 million in PA to provide this (as per Justin Simmons). Why not put it back into education?
Christina Georgiou April 25, 2012 at 02:32 am
One more group that is likely to be disenfranchised of their vote due to the new ID law:
Of the 61,000 Amish in Pa., 57,000 of them don't have the required ID they will need to vote in November. If they want to change that without compromising their faith, they will need to jump through additional legal hoops (created just for this new law) to get a valid non-photo ID. http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/pa-religious-questions-for-pa-voter-id-law-draw-fire/2012/04/12/gIQAtYdKDT_story.html
Rosemary B April 25, 2012 at 02:37 am
http://nation.foxnews.com/voter-fraud/2012/04/23/massive-voter-fraud-uncovered-virginia
"Board of Elections forwarded more than 400 voter and election fraud allegations from 62 cities and counties to Virginia State Police for individual investigation."
M. Joseph April 25, 2012 at 03:01 am
Only 400? That's a very tiny number. Plus its only allegations. Totally inconsequential.
Rosemary B April 25, 2012 at 11:09 am
Certain races are so close that 400 votes would swing that election.
ron April 25, 2012 at 01:45 pm
The bottom line is people usually do what they want to do. You hear lots of excuses why most people dont vote like they were tired, it was raining, it was cold they were busy, all candidates are the same. They will use whatever excuse they can think of. The same goes for people that do care and want to vote, they will vote no matter what. they will go out even if its cold and raining , they will make time even if their busy or tired if they dont have a ride they will find one and if they need an ID they will find a way to get one! If someone uses this law or anything else as an excuse not to vote i dont believe they where to excited to vote in the first place. I dont believe this law takes away anyones rights the only arguments against it should come if it wastes money to implement.
Note Article
Just a short thought to get the word out quickly about anything in your neighborhood.
Share something with your neighbors. Write a new post... What's up? Make an announcement, speak your mind, or sell something
An interested bystander May 6, 2013 at 05:29 pm
Just pointing out facts. You are also forgetting that money withdrawn from an IRA or 401k (exceptRead More Roth IRAs) are taxed at withdrawal. I prefer my government not punish good financial actions. Sorry it's a quirk of mine, I think we should reward those who make good decisions, not punish them.
Tony Simek May 6, 2013 at 06:35 pm
I agree with you Interested Bystander. Problem is that if you punish the ones making the badRead More decisions, the Federal government will be punished all the time. In the current climate, poor decision making gets rewarded by voters. The middle class doesn't have a chance.
Bill May 9, 2013 at 05:11 am
Naziti and Caroline Johnson so sorry to take so long to get back to you from your comments onRead More Sunday, May 5th, I didn't think I would have to respond. I re-posted Ken's comment because the REAL issue is "AARP selling out it's faithful supporters for BIG MONEY. So let me break it down so even the Soros trolls understand. ObamaCare guts SS and medicare reserve money by 750 Billion. Which ends these programs as we know them. AARP publicly backs ObamaCare. Seniors confused about OCare but trust AARP and their massive ad campaign for OCare. AARP contributes to re-election AARP becomes insurance provided for OCare. Unleashes host of insurance options that Seniors will be needing to make decisions about in next 2-3 years. Complicate the choices for Seniors so they fall back on who they have trusted in the past. Still unaware of the great deception perpetrated by AARP. OCARE fully enacted 2014. AARP gets steady $$$ insurance income now (not $16 membership fees for whoever posted that line above). SS and MediCare bankrupt (3/4 trillion $ stolen to fund OCare) Result for SENIORS. NO SS or MEDicare it's dissolved or becomes something less. Free OCare that sucks. Pay AARP for supplemental Ins. Prescriptions too expensive to purchase so go without or pay AARP for better plan. AARP richer and more powerful represents Gvmt Seniors - Self rule lost You see they screwed the very people that paid dues for their protection!