Pennsylvania Judge Refuses to Block Voter ID Law That Would Disenfranchise Pro-Obama Voters
Voters should be disgusted by what's happening in Pennsylvania.
Commonwealth Court Judge Robert Simpson said he wouldn't grant an injunction that would have halted the law requiring each voter to show a valid photo ID. Opponents are expected to file an appeal within a day or two to the state Supreme Court as the Nov. 6 presidential election looms.
The Republican-penned law – which passed over the objections of Democrats – has ignited a furious debate over voting rights as Pennsylvania is poised to play a key role in deciding the presidential contest in November. Opponents had asked Simpson to block the law from taking effect in this year's election as part of a wider challenge to its constitutionality.
Republicans defend the law as necessary to protect the integrity of the election. But Democrats say the law will make it harder for the elderly, minorities, the poor and college students to vote, as part of a partisan scheme to help the Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, beat Democratic Obama.
The decision is expected to be appealed:
"We're not done, it's not over," said Witold J. Walczak, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer who helped argue the case for the plaintiffs. "It's why they make appeals courts."
......because "college students" NEVER have photo IDs!
Could you be more moronic? I doubt it.
Posted by: MarkUs | Aug 15, 2012 10:15:51 AM
You have to show ID to do all sorts of things -- including to enter many Obama campaign events. Why shouldn't you have to show it to vote? How is that "disgusting," oh hyperbole man?
Posted by: One small problem | Aug 15, 2012 10:22:41 AM
We should be "disgusted" because a photo ID will be required in order to vote? Why? Don't you need a photo ID to purchase beer or buy a gun? To get a passport? To rent a car? Isn't the integrity of the electoral system at least as important as those things?
Posted by: Rick | Aug 15, 2012 10:24:47 AM
What in America does NOT require an i.d., and why do the Democrats furiously object to this common sense reform?
Posted by: LincolnLounger | Aug 15, 2012 10:25:12 AM
Shouldn't Identification cards and/or passports be free then? since it is a must.
Posted by: JB | Aug 15, 2012 10:27:46 AM
In CT you have to have an ID to vote
Posted by: GeorgeM | Aug 15, 2012 10:28:50 AM
Many poor and elderly people don't have driver's licences. It costs money and takes time to get state authorized ID cards.
I note that many of these laws prevent people from voting with certain ID cards (e.g., college IDs), while allowing ID cards likely to be owned by Republicans to be honored (hunting permits, gun permits).
Posted by: homer | Aug 15, 2012 10:36:06 AM
Pennsylvania, in fact, already had a very effective voter ID system which maintained negligible amounts of voter fraud. A PA ongressman, i the record, said that this would help the GOP take the election. The difference between buying a beer and voting is that buying beer is a consumer good, voting is a fundamental right to our democracy. Many will be unable to vote because they do not have the "proper" documentation to obtain an ID, and worse, many will be too uninformed to know the requirements of the new law.
Posted by: Jlavoy | Aug 15, 2012 10:41:17 AM
"It costs money and takes time to get state authorized ID cards."
A state ID card costs all of $12 in Pennsylvania, which is pretty typical for most states; and as for the amount of time it takes, the people who are likely to be without a card generally have plenty of time on their hands, as we all know.....and if they can find transportation to apply for food stamps or Medicaid--or to get to the polls--they can damn sure find transportation to the place that issues state ID cards.
Posted by: Rick | Aug 15, 2012 10:41:24 AM
The photo ID requirement is allegedly intended to erase voter fraud, but the secret those who are pushing for it don't want known is that there is virtually no voter fraud in recent elections. This is purely intended to disenfranchise voters who are not apt to have photo IDs (those who don't have driver's licenses--as Homer says, the poor and the elderly) and those voters vote Democratic.
In my state there is no such requirement. They actually want to encourage people to vote. Imagine!
Posted by: Ernie | Aug 15, 2012 10:43:24 AM
"This is purely intended to disenfranchise voters who are not apt to have photo IDs (those who don't have driver's licenses--as Homer says, the poor and the elderly) and those voters vote Democratic"
Actually, Ernie, Obama's lowest approval ratings and poll numbers are among seniors, a much higher percentage of whom typically turn out than is the case with the general population.
The only people likely to be "disenfranchised" are those who were ineligible to vote for some reason in the first place......including illegals (which is what this is REALLY about, right?)
Posted by: Rick | Aug 15, 2012 10:49:58 AM
Some of you people need to learn what a "poll tax" is. Just because YOU think everyone should have a photo ID, does not mean everyone does. Just because YOU think a photo ID is easy to get, does not mean everyone does. You can't just walk into a DMV and get a photo ID -- you need supporting documentation (like a birth certificate) that many people simply don't have and can't get without great cost.
A photo ID requirement for voting would only ARGUABLY be acceptable (only arguably) if photo IDs and the documents necessary to get them were FREE, EASY TO GET, and the government took SIGNIFICANT, PROACTIVE steps to get these free IDs into the hands of EVERY CITIZEN years before the requirement were put in place. Obviously, that's not the case here. The Republicans don't actually want the elderly, the young and racial minorities to get photo IDs.
A PA Republican admitted on tape that voter ID laws were not about preventing "voter fraud," but were intended to deliver PA to Romney in the election. That's not democracy.
Posted by: Scott | Aug 15, 2012 10:54:24 AM
Oh come on, seriously! Let's pick and choose our battles. I'm the first to cry foul when right wingers pull underhanded tricks put this sounds pretty reasonable. Talk to any European or Canadian and see how many of them are able to vote without a photo id.
Posted by: GRAY | Aug 15, 2012 10:54:37 AM
EVERYBODY should have a valid photo I.D.... EVERYBODY. You can't function properly without one. If there are people who lack one and can't afford one [like some homeless people] states should have effective programs in-place to get them one. And honestly, what would be the problem with turning a social security card into a valid photo national I.D. card? It's already used for that purpose, minus the photo part. In fact, they should be biometric I.D. cards, and every citizen should have them. This would solve MANY problems and help a great deal with fraud and crime issues. IGNORE the loons who babble about the mark of the beast.
It's ridiculous you can vote and not prove positively who you are. Insane,actually. There must be considerable voter fraud going on.
Posted by: ratbastard | Aug 15, 2012 10:59:07 AM
"I've got mine" on full display! You're all such good little Republicans. Daddy approves!
What else are they saying?
"I can get married under current law, so you should be fine, too."
"I don't need food stamps, so you should be fine, too."
"It wasn't hard for me to get an ID, so you should be fine, too."
It's too bad the conservative queens on here can't see that the same mentality people use to spew the "you already have the same marriage rights as me" meme is the same bogus BS rationale they use to convince everyone that "Well, you practically need an ID to do everything! It's so cheap! It's so easy to get!"
If you don't understand why this is a big deal for our nation's youth, elderly, and minorities, plainly put, you're stupid or willfully ignorant to it. Yeah, you have a car, so you can drive to the RMV. Yeah, you have that spare $12, so you can buy an ID card. Yeah, you can read the forms needed to apply for an ID. Not everyone can. Stop being so freaking selfish.
Prove voter fraud is rampant and/or one-sided. Then we'll talk.
Posted by: kpo5 | Aug 15, 2012 11:02:34 AM
KPO5 very well put, but I'll go one further and say it is willfully ignorant and a touch elitist. This whole voter fraud scam is part and parcel of the republican play book. They know they can't win on a level playing field, so they just aren't above tilting it their favor. Contrary to what the shill, Rick/Markus/Ratbastard, says it has been proven time and time again by bipartisan sources, that this so called rampant voter fraud DOES NOT EXIST.
Posted by: Kenneth | Aug 15, 2012 11:09:40 AM
You need valid photo I.D. to:
Open an account at a financial institution
Rent a hotel room
Rent a car
Fly on an airplane
Get a passport and other official documents
Apply for government benefits [not all, some things you can do over the phone[!] in some states, like unemployment benefits. A friend applied once on a Saturday afternoon in Massachusetts, she had delayed for 2-3 months doing it, they had her info from a previous time a few years before including direct deposit info, and on Monday morning $4500. was deposited into her bank account! All she did was speak for less than 10 minutes on the phone.
Apply for a job
Rent an apartment
Buy alcohol
Buy tobacco products
At hospitals
The list is endless, but doesn't include voting!
Posted by: ratbastard | Aug 15, 2012 11:12:35 AM
I thought Republican's wanted LESS government interfering with their lives????
Posted by: CB | Aug 15, 2012 11:15:57 AM
"You're all such good little Republicans. Daddy approves!"
Yet again, we see a demonstration of the link between the woman-idolizing, "gender-non-conformist", Far Left mindset, on the one hand......and hostility towards one's father (and by extensiion, towards men in general), on the other.......
Everything fits together if you just dig deep enough.......
Posted by: Rick | Aug 15, 2012 11:16:32 AM
@KP05 and Kenneth,
EVERYBODY, adult and child, should have a valid photo I.D. IMO. It is especially irresponsible for an adult not to have one. State governments should provide them to 'poor' people, if necessary, and like I said above, maybe we should turn social security cards into biometric+photo national I.D. cards fro all citizens. This would solve A LOT of problems.
Posted by: ratbastard | Aug 15, 2012 11:16:42 AM
@CB,
I'm not Republican, but am all for less nanny state government interference in people's lives [regulations of various businesses is another story, I'm talking about nanny state BS that is generally the result of 'progressive' politicians and 'advocates'.] But regarding legal identification of who a person is, there is zero question this is essential for our modern society, and yes, much has to do with preventing fraud and even solving crimes.
MANY countries require by law all citizens carry valid government issued I.D. at all times, some are now issuing highly sophisticated biometric I.D. cards to all citizens that are more advanced than anything Americans traditionally carry as valid I.D.
Posted by: ratbastard | Aug 15, 2012 11:23:45 AM
First of all, if you won't admit this has NOTHING to do with "voter fraud," which study after study has said doesn't really exist, but is about voter DISENFRANCHISEMENT you're being dishonest, a flat-out liar, and it's not worth discussing with you. In 2000 in Florida, and in Florida today, they are DELIBERATELY purging names from the voting rolls that they know to be valid, nearly all of them (coincidentally, I'm sure) from communities that traditionally vote Democrat. The GOP's OWN internal memos show the criteria for removing names from the rolls is unnecessarily broad and will stop many valid voters from casting a ballot.
There really are two Americas and one of them doesn't function the same way yours does. The poor don't own cars. They don't drive. (And they sure as h@ll don't RENT cars, dipweed!) They trade in cash, without checking accounts. If they go anywhere it's by public transportation. $12 is a lot of money, perhaps the choice between a couple days food and a card they will use ONCE every two or four years.
And that's just for the ID card itself. If they don't have a copy of their birth certificate there are more offices to go to, more fees to pay, more hoops to jump through just to get the paperwork necessary to GET the ID.
In short, if you don't think this is about voter disenfranchisement, keeping people who tend to vote Democrat from voting, you're either an idiot or a liar. Which is it?
Posted by: Caliban | Aug 15, 2012 11:24:16 AM
There is no voter fraud going on. Those are the facts. The Republicans want to prevent certain voters from going to the polls. Those are also the facts. And there are many people, including the elderly like my mother, who don't drive and have no need for a photo license and for whom getting one is not easy. Making voting difficult is un-American.
Posted by: Ernie | Aug 15, 2012 11:24:41 AM
@Markus et al, you should understand the facts before you start throwing around terms like "moronic." Of course college kids have IDs BUT most of them have their parents' address listed because dorms and such aren't considered permanent residences. Where will they be voting in November? At their college or university towns. But wait a minute, they can't vote because their address on their ID isn't in the same district where they are registered to vote. It's not just about having a photo ID - it's about having a photo ID that exactly matches where you are wanting to vote. Hence, they will not be allowed to vote and we all lose.
Posted by: Bob | Aug 15, 2012 11:25:23 AM
Ratbastrd, EVERYBODY, adult and child, should have a place to call home, a balanced diet, an education, but it isn't always the case. You may or may not be right about biometric Social Security cards and photo national ID cards, but that isn't what this sham is all about, it is about voter suppression. If this was truly about EVERYBODY, adult and child, having a valid I.D. they would have legislated that in a timely manner, rather than this sham right before elections. Get over your high and mighty elitist bulls*&% and work to get a meaningful law passed for I.D. or stfu because otherwise you are being disingenuous. Incidentally, republicans are generally opposed to national I.D. cards as an assault on our freedom.
Posted by: Kenneth | Aug 15, 2012 11:31:39 AM