Voter ID law sponsor turns on fellow Republicans in ruling
State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, the Butler County Republican who sponsored Pennsylvania's Voter ID legislation, fired off an angry news release Tuesday afternoon after a state Commonwealth Court ruling that voters will be allowed to cast ballots in the Nov. 6 general election even if they don't have state-approved identification. Metcalfe's ire was not aimed at the coalition of groups that opposed his legislation. Instead, he denounced as a "judicial activist" Commonwealth Court Judge Robert Simpson for the ruling and Gov. Corbett for efforts to create a new state ID to help people vote.
Voter ID law sponsor turns on fellow Republicans in ruling
Chris Brennan
State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, the Butler County Republican who sponsored Pennsylvania's Voter ID legislation, fired off an angry news release Tuesday afternoon after a state Commonwealth Court ruling that voters will be allowed to cast ballots in the Nov. 6 general election even if they don't have state-approved identification. Metcalfe's ire was not aimed at the coalition of groups that opposed his legislation. Instead, he denounced as a "judicial activist" Commonwealth Court Judge Robert Simpson for the ruling and Gov. Corbett for efforts to create a new state ID to help people vote.
Simpson, a Republican, upheld the law on Aug. 15 but was ordered by the state Supreme Court on Sept. 18 to re-examine the case to see if any voters would be disenfranchised. That order came from three Republican members and one Democratic member of the Supreme Court. Two other Democratic members wanted to issue a preliminary injunction immediately.
Metcalfe calls Simpson's new ruling "out of bounds with the rule of law, constitutional checks and balances for the individual branches of state government, and most importantly, the will of the people." He goes on to say the ruling is "skewed in favor of the lazy" who haven't obtained identification and accuses Simpson of "dereliction of legal authority."
And Metcalfe slams the Corbett administration for creating a new voter identification card for people who were having trouble obtaining other forms of state identification. He called that "beyond the scope of the executive authority for the Corbett administration" since the Voter ID law did not provide for the new identification.
Metcalfe accuses Simpson and Corbett of choosing to "openly enable and fully embrace the ever-increasing entitlement mentality of those individuals who have no problem living off the fruits of their neighbors' labor."
metcalfe wanna talk "lazy"? how bout what you and your cronies in harrisburg get paid for accomplishing so little? "living off the fruits of their neighbors labor"??? kinda like the entire Pa legislature both D & R? you guys salaries,per diems,pensions are beyond anything your constituents get. Youre the kings of living off others so shut up ya hypocrite,lol— FedupDem
Comment removed.- Earth to Metcalf: The right to vote is not an entitlement.— fillyfan
- And sadly, he'll be voted in again in November.— flyers2thecup
- IF YOU SEE ANY REPUBLICAN LAWMAKER SHOWING ANGER ABOUT THIS RULING, THEY'RE EXPOSING THEMSELVES AS COMPLICIT IN A CRIME. Since there was NO impersonation fraud to begin with, according to GOP's own research, the anger is all about getting caught, nothing more. Metcalfe is a scum for saying that.— bogie1
- Complicit in a crime for proposing a law similar to the one that the U.S. Supreme Court found constitutional in 2008? Get a grip, and get a clue. — jfar86
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- Finally, something that both the Ds and Rs can agree on: this dude is a complete blockhead.— everydayguy
- Hey Jfar86, you mean the conservative activist US Supreme Court? Also, note your use of the word "similar". In law, similar doesn't make it right. Also, even though a legislature has the right to make a law, that doesn't make the law right. ALL of us registered voters ALREADY HAVE ID's! They're called SIGNATURES, you moron! They were scanned when even the poorest old immigrant person had to properly fill out all their voter registration paperwork. It's a solid system that has successfully prevented fraud for decades, and our taxes have already PAID for that system. Even republicans had to admit they've found no impersonation fraud. Liquor stores, pharmacies, gun stores, etc, don't have our signatures on file, THAT's why they ask you to show a photo ID, you uniformed Foxpublican creep.— bogie1
- Bogie, you really demonstrated your own ignorance with this post. If you know what you were talking about, you would know that John Paul Stevens, one of the most liberal justices on the SCOTUS, authored the majority opinion in Crawford v. Marion upholding Indiana's law. To call the SCOTUS a "conservative activist" court is laughable - after all, this is the court that upheld Obamacare in a tortured decision.
Before you call somebody else uninformed and relate to similar ad hominem attacks, perhaps you should actually attempt to learn about the topic on which you are opining.— jfar86 - Comment removed.
- Bogie1 the law was intended for the Philly dems who have to spend an awful lot of money each election digging up the dead for the elections. It is no threat for any lawbiding citizen who has the photo id which typically is a drivers license. THe Sick lame and lazy don't care to vote and never have. Take a look at the big PA cities and that is where you will find the fraud. Wake up and smell the ROses.— rduexpress
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- rdue, nothing to say about the company the RNC hired to register voters, which is being criminlly investigated for registering dead people as Republicans and throwing anyway Democratic registrations? About similiar signatures and addresses? Huh? Nothing. These are facts, not gop myths aboutabout Philly Dems. These are your straight arrow repubs that hired this firm, then let them go only when they got caught. Again, and not one rightie has challenged me,the only person convicted in PA of voter fraud in a generation was a Repub from DelCo last year. Ahh, shoots down your little myths about repubs being straight with people. — mike l
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