Asian American groups criticize voter-ID law
Pennsylvania's new voter-ID requirements threaten to disenfranchise a significant number of Asian Americans, particularly immigrant citizens without a solid command of English, leaders of several Asian American support groups alleged at a news conference Monday.
Pennsylvania's new voter-ID requirements threaten to disenfranchise a significant number of Asian Americans, particularly immigrant citizens without a solid command of English, leaders of several Asian American support groups alleged at a news conference Monday.
Glenn D. Magpantay, an official with the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, said immigrants might struggle with the Department of Transportation's application for a nondriver photo-ID card, one of the forms of identification people would have to show election officials to vote in November.
His organization joined the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Pennsylvania and the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corp. at a news conference raising concerns about the state's new photo-ID requirement.
Jan McKnight, a spokeswoman for PennDot, confirmed that the state's application for nondriver photo-ID, spelling out the required forms of identification, is printed only in English. But McKnight said anyone visiting one of PennDot's driver-licensing centers could get interpreting help through a telephone service contracted by the state. - Bob Warner