Family Life

03.14.12 | Bob Price

The 104-88 vote came after three days of debate and accusations by Democrats that the bill is a Jim Crow-style attempt to discriminate against minorities and that no trail of voter fraud exists to justify making it more difficult for the elderly, disabled and poor to vote.

View full sizeCHRIS KNIGHT, The Patriot-News, fileMajority Inspector Philomena Castelli has voter Gary Bucher, sign in at the Hershey Fire Department polling place in Hershey in November 2011.  

The GOP-controlled state Senate approved the measure last week, and Corbett, a Republican, has said he will sign it.

The bill would require voters to show certain photo identification before their votes could be counted beginning with this year’s presidential election, prompting Democrats to accuse Republicans of trying to stop traditional Democratic-leaning voters — minorities, college students and the poor — from getting their ballots counted.

Republicans say the requirement is a common-sense step to prevent fraudulent double voting, voting by illegal immigrants, voter impersonation and fictitious voters. They also say that showing photo ID is a widely accepted function in daily American society. Voter ID has been a hot topic, with a number of Republican-controlled legislatures around the country passing such measures.

Democratic lawmakers and the American Civil Liberties Union have pledged to challenge the measure in court, once it becomes law.

The County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania says systems are already in place to prevent duplicate or erroneous registration. It also warned lawmakers that adding the additional step of requiring poll workers to check photo IDs will lengthen Election Day lines at polling places and create voter confusion, but provide no extra security for ballots.

Many government employee photo IDs would be acceptable, as would student IDs from colleges and universities in Pennsylvania and IDs for people who live in elder-care institutions in the state, as long as they show a name, photo and expiration date that makes them current.

Someone without proper ID would be able to cast a provisional ballot, then would have six days to get an acceptable ID and deliver a copy to county election offices in person, by email or fax.

In response to any suggestion that a photo ID requirement amounts to an unconstitutional “poll tax,” supporters of the bill note that it also will require the Department of Transportation to issue an identification card at no cost to anyone who applies and swears that he or she has no other proof of identification allowed under the law for voting purposes.

But Democrats say getting a photo ID requires obtaining other documents, such as a passport or birth certificate, which cost money to get and can take months to receive from the state.