Pa. would be 9th state

REPUBLICANS have been salivating over voter-ID legislation for years, and the 2010 elections gave them the power to pass bills in states, according to Jennie Bowser, senior fellow at the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Pennsylvania is poised to become the ninth state with a strict photo-ID law, following the leads of Georgia, Indiana, Texas, Kansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Wisconsin and South Carolina. Yesterday, Virginia legislators gave final approval to a similar bill.

A January poll conducted by Terry Madonna Opinion Research found that 87 percent of Pennsylvania voters strongly or somewhat favor a law requiring voters to show a driver's license or state-issued ID before voting.

"I don't think people are sitting down thinking, 'Gee, what about the person who may be homeless and still is a citizen and has a right to vote,' " Madonna said. "Just off the top of their head, it doesn't seem unreasonable to most people." Bowser said there isn't much reliable evidence to support Democrats' argument that such laws disenfranchise voters. Nor are there many cases of voter impersonation to back Republicans' claims that the new laws are needed.

"I think there's a real genuine lack of data on both sides," she said.

- William Bender