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Witnesses say state isn’t ready for voter-ID rule

HARRISBURG - PennDot offices throughout the state seem ill-equipped to handle the expected demands of voters seeking state-issued identification cards, according to witnesses Tuesday in Commonwealth Court.

HARRISBURG - PennDot offices throughout the state seem ill-equipped to handle the expected demands of voters seeking state-issued identification cards, according to witnesses Tuesday in Commonwealth Court.

In recent visits, the witnesses said they found long lines, short hours and misinformed clerks, all of which made obtaining voter identification cumbersome, and in some cases impossible, for those that don't have supporting documentation.

Lisa Gray, of Chadds Ford, said she is caught in a Catch 22 situation: she does not drive because of a psychological disability and therefore has no license, and she was born in Germany. In order to get her birth certificate from the U.S. government, she needs a photo ID.

Gray said she has exercised her right to vote for 35 years.

"I vote because it's important to me to make my voice heard," Gray testified. "I may now be prevented by clerical stumbling blocks."

The American Civil Liberties Union and other groups sued the Commonwealth to block the new law requiring that Pennsylvanians show photo identification at the polls. Backers of the law contend it is needed to prevent voter fraud; its challengers argue the law will disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of legitimate voters who do not have easy access to identification.

"There is a burden associated with this law and a burden on a fundamental right is unconstitutional," said Marian Schneider, a lawyer with the Advancement Project, a civil rights group.

Lawyers are seeking an injunction ahead of the Nov. 6 election when the law passed by the Republican-controlled legislature is to take effect.

Four other witnesses from across the state - all of whom already have PennDot issued licenses - went to driver's license centers at the behest of voters' rights groups seeking to determine the difficulty in obtaining IDs.

All reported roadblocks such as limited or no public transportation to PennDot offices; limited hours when authorized employees were available; and clerks who said there was a $13.50 charge for the IDs, which, in fact, are to be issued free.

Madeline Rawley, a retired teacher from Doylestown, testified that constant revisions to the requirements for obtaining ID appear to be causing confusion even in PennDot offices.

She said one clerk told her "'I can give you general information [about voter ID requirements], but I can't guarantee it's accurate.'"

Janice Horn, retired librarian and board member of League of Women Voters, testified she went to a PennDOT office in her home county of Clarion and found it staffed by a contract worker who said she could not answer any questions about voter ID; The worker told Horn to come back on another day when a PennDot employee was in.

Secretary of the Commonwealth Carol Aichele testified that her agency was doing everything it could to address issues with access to IDs and is trying to make ID cards available to all registered voters.

She said she has addressed groups across the state and reached out to other agencies in an effort to spread the word and that soon 5 million letters will go out to voters reminding them to have the proper IDs.

But John Jordan, an official with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), said the law has brought widespread confusion among minority voters and hampered his group's main mission, to register voters.

When asked whether he was confident that everyone will have an ID on Nov. 6, Jordan, whose group is a petitioner in the lawsuit, said "Not confident at all."

Under questioning by Washington lawyer David Gersch, representing the plaintiffs, Aichele said she did not know how many voters would be affected and did not know what would happen if hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvania voters showed up at the polls without proper ID.

"We planned on less, about 100,000," she said.

Still Aichele said she did not believe the new law would cause delays at the polls.

"We are doing all we can to make sure voters have ID," she said.

Testimony continues Wednesday when witnesses include a representative of the League of Women Voters and Lorraine Minnite, a Rutgers University professor and expert on voter fraud. Closing arguments are set for Thursday.