Sick of Hearing About Voter ID?
If you're tired of the voter ID issue you'd better tune out over the next several days.
Sick of Hearing About Voter ID?
John Baer, Daily News Political Columnist
Those weary of hearing about Pennsylvania's new voter ID law had better think about tuning out over the next several days -- and likely for many, many more to come.
For instead of melting in the summer heat, the issue continues to flame.
Friday's New York Times features a piece written from Philly about problems with the new law, the legal battles that lie ahead and the fact only four other states -- Indiana, Kansas, Tennessee and Georgia -- have laws as strict as ours.
State officials keep revising impact of the law, first by changing the number of those potentially affected and, more recently, by announcing a new card is coming to make things easier because the "easy" path initially planned hasn't proved as easy as promised.
Meanwhile, thousands are expected to rally for two hours at the Capitol on Tuesday afternoon. The "Rally for Justice" is sponsored by the NAACP and is to include speakers from the Legislature, community groups and labor who charge that voter ID disenfranchises poor, elderly and minority citizens least likely to have required photo IDs.
Then on Wednesday, state Commonwealth Court in Harrisburg is scheduled to hear legal arguments against the law, a process almost certain to drag through the summer and end up in the state Supreme Court.
So buckle up, voter ID fans.
What lies ahead is an endless rehash of arguments about whether there's rampant voter fraud or not, whether the law causes chaos come Election Day or not, whether Republican-controlled legislatures are trying to block President Obama's reelection or not, whether U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric Holder is right to refer to such laws as a "poll tax" or not and whether the issue ultimately knocks down turnout in urban areas or fires up the Democratic base and increases the urban vote.
The only thing certain is the issue is creating yet another societal wedge between right and left, haves and have nots, black and white, and isn't going away for some time to come.
(And, yeah, I know, those who don't have photo IDs should stop whining, get off their duffs and comply with the law of the land. Great idea. I'm sure that's what'll happen.)
Voter ID is the right thing to do. It should be made law across all 50 states (And even the extra 7 states Obama thinks we have.)— psyrus- No, I'm not. Thanks for asking.— Poit
- So psyrus even though there no record of voter ID fraud, oh wait, there is that .004 percent, you are willing to disenfranchise up to 750,000 people (though prob not that much)just so your side wins. Yeah, you really care about democracy. Oh wait, no, you and your ilk cares about one thing: power and regaining it.— dedalus33
- Why is Organized Labor part of this upcoming rally? I find it hard to believe that union members are part of the population hurt by the Voter ID requirement.— Manny Yunker
- Voting should be restricted to those who actually pay something in income taxes. The 47% of Americans who pay nothing should not have a say in who leads this nation.— dallas68
- and Baer, you liberal hack, just admit that without voter fraud, Democrats could not get elected and be done with it. In 2008, more people voted in the heavily Democratic Philadelphia district than were registered to vote. I wonder how that happened.— dallas68
- Please explain what evidence you have that the Democrats couldn't win without voter fraud? In 2008, there were 69,456,897 for Obama vs 59,934,814 for McCain. Please explain how the Democrats faked 9,522,083 votes- and don't forget to cite evidence to back what will certainly be a truly amazing theory. As to your second claim, in 2008, there were 1,126,709 registered voters in Philadelphia, of which 718,025 voted in the general election. So if you are wondering how there were more votes than registered voters in Philadelphia, the answer is clear- there weren't! — Blanketman
- Do we really want people that don't have a photo id and are, apparently, incapable of figuring out how to get one in 6 months choosing our leaders?— bannedrepublican
John is the author of the book "On The Front Lines of Pennsylvania Politics: Twenty-Five Years of Keystone Reporting" (The History Press, 2012). Reach John at baerj@phillynews.com.
