Pa PASSES VOTER "PHOTO- ID" LAW

But evidence of the kind of voting fraud the laws would discourage is elusive. Pennsylvania stipulated before the trial that it could not show evidence of such fraud in the past and that it is unlikely to occur in the absence of the law.

Are these photo ID laws going national?

I could be anyone posing to be someone else and vote their vote before they got there just on my say-so. We don't sign anything at our voting booths, just announce who we are and where we live.

The motive is clearly to disenfranchise people.

Penn State Rep Mike Turzai even went on record saying "Voter ID - which is going to allow Governor Romney to win the state of Pennsylvania - done."

If folks can find their way to the voting booth, they can find their way to getting a photo ID.

B. ARE THERE SPECIAL RULES FOR VOTING BY ABSENTEE BALLOT?

Unless a voter is in the military or living overseas and applying for an absentee ballot, the voter must prove his/her identity by providing one of the following on an application for an absentee ballot:

1. The voter’s driver’s license number or PennDOT photo ID number, or
2. The last four digits of the voter’s Social Security number (if he/she doesn’t have a driver’s license), or
3. A copy of any photo ID that would be acceptable if the voter were voting in person at the polls (See Question A. in the previous section), or
4. A non-photo driver’s license or other non-photo ID issued by PennDOT (if the voter has a religious objection to being photographed).

..Think Getting “Free” ID Is Easy? Think Again!
Proponents of government-issued photo ID laws say it’s simple to get “free” identification to exercise our most fundamental right. During an interview, Republican Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam, who signed into law voter ID requirements for Tennessee, stated he has hesitations with the new law because it will make it "unnecessarily hard" for some people in his state to vote.

"Given human nature, people tend not to address things until the last minute sometimes," Haslam said."I'm concerned about that last minute, when seniors say, 'I really want to vote, I want to vote at the polling place, I don't want to vote absentee. Oh, I need to get a photo ID! ... and I'm concerned about the waiting time [at driver's licensing stations]."

We've heard about people across the country struggling to obtain IDs in states with new government-issued photo ID requirements. Below you will find the stories we've collected from a diverse group of hardworking Americans.

If you live in a state that requires government-issued ID to vote and have questions about what is needed to get a free ID, check out our Voter ID Toolkits.

Indiana

Angela Hiss

Notre Dame University student Angela Hiss was barred from voting in Indiana because her Illinois driver's license was not accepted as proof of identification. Thousands of students like Angela will have difficulty voting in the next election because of repressive voter ID laws. Read more

Nuns from St. Mary's Convent

In 2008, twelve nuns from St. Mary's Convent were prevented from casting ballots because they did not have government-issued photo ID. This was the first election voters were required to present ID after Indiana passed its stringent voter ID law. requiring voters to present valid government-issued photo ID at the polls in order to cast a ballot. Read more

Edward and Mary Weidenbener

Edward and Mary are a married couple in their late 80s, living in Indiana. They went to vote in the presidential primary in May 2012, unaware that Indiana had passed a new law requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls. Because they did not have the required ID, and were not informed in time to obtain such ID, they were given provisional ballots. Unfortunately, those provisional ballots were never counted, because the Weidenbeners were never informed that they had to follow up with the county election board to submit identification after they voted. Read more


Pennsylvania


Wiola Lee

Wiola Lee, 59, was born in rural Georgia and moved to Philadelphia in her early youth to live with her grandmother. Ms. Lee worked for the Philadelphia Public Schools, including special needs children. She has voted for well over 30 years and has been civically active, volunteering as a poll worker in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. With the new voter ID laws, Ms. Lee is trying to access her birth certificate which she will need in order to obtain a photo ID, but the state of Georgia has no record of her birth. Without a photo ID, Ms. Lee will not be able to vote. Read more


Barbara Decoursey

Ms. Decoursey, 79 takes voting seriously. She has been voting in every election since Harry S. Truman ran for president, served as an election judge, and has made sure her children and grandchildren are registered and vote. She was born by midwife in North Carolina and has no birth certificate which is needed to get a photo ID in Pennsylvania. Read more

Bea Bookler

Bea Bookler has voted in every election since 1940 but now 72 years later she may not be able to cast what she believes might be her last vote. At 93 years old, Ms. Bookler lives at an assisted living facility in Chester County, no longer posseses photo ID and does not have her birth certificate to obtain ID. Read More

Devra Mirel ("Asher") Schor

Mr. Schor is a 22 year-old transgender man (female to male) registered voter in Pennsylvania who was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He works as a paralegal for a public interest law firm that provides civil rights assistance to Pennsylvania prisoners. Mr. Schor expects to formally change his name and gender identity after the transitioning process is further along, which will not be before the November election. Although he has two forms of photo ID acceptable under the new voter photo ID law - a current passport and driver's license - in both he looks like a woman and is identified as "female," but looks and presents like a man. Mr. Schor has a very real and legitimate concern that poll workers will refuse to allow him to vote on election day in November when the person in his ID photos looks so different from the person who comes to vote. Read more

Dorothy Barksdale

Dorothy Barksdale was born at home by a midwife in rural Halifax County, Virginia in 1926. She and her niece have tried unsuccessfully for three years to obtain a birth certificate from the State of Virginia and was recently told that they have no record of her birth. Dorothy's niece called into 1-866-OUR-VOTE after learning about the new photo ID requirement in order to vote, looking for assistance on how to get an ID. Ms. Barkdale started working as a poll worker in Philadelphia shortly after the passage of the Voting Rights Act and now may not be able to vote in November. Read more

Gloria Cuttino

Gloria who is 61 was born in Summerville, South Carolina and moved to Philadelphia at a young age. Ms. Cuttino's mother died when she was sixteen, leaving Ms. Cuttino alone to care for her three younger brothers and sisters. Ms. Cuttino raised four children of her own, one of whom is a Philadelphia police officer. Prior to the photo ID law going into affect she has been trying to get her birth certificate from South Carolina and has told her they have no birth record. Through the help of a pro bono lawyer, she learned that the only way to now get a "delayed" birth certificate is to seek census and other records, which will cost approximately $100, and as well as hire an attorney in South Carolina to petition the court. Ms. Cuttino will not be able to vote in November

They need to get with the program. I don't think showing ID at a voting booth is a hardship for anyone.

And their Constitutional right is not being violated or taken away... many systems and policies have been implemented over time - it's called adjusting. They can still vote - they just need picture ID.

In Virginia, demoKKKrats have been sending registration forms to children, dogs, cats, rabbits, and dead people. There may actually be a problem with a dog or a cat or a ghost getting to a photo ID center on his/her own.....

engineer wrote:

The motive is clearly to disenfranchise people.

No, that is not clearly the motive.