By Meghan Schiller, Contributing Writer
It’s been put off for this week, but when lawmakers return from recess they’ll likely take up debate on a law requiring voters to show photo ID at the polls. We took a look at arguments for and against the bill when it was introduced. Today, we take a look at the politics.
Each party is digging in, and each sees itself with the upper hand in the battle for public opinion.
The measure, introduced by State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe and most popular among conservatives and tea partiers, aims to tackle voter fraud. Proponents say the bill would eliminate voting by people not registered, people voting multiple times, illegal immigrants voting and most of the horror stories they hear about elections in inner-city Philadelphia.
Supporters admit that there haven’t been many recorded cases of fraud in Pennsylvania, but say that comes from a lack of reporting or partisan oversight of elections. Worst case scenario, they argue, the law will prevent future fraud.
The Associated Press reports that 13 states now require photo IDs, and 16 others require non photo identification.
Democrats are seeking to draw attention to the effort, arguing that the new requirements will disenfranchise voters. They believe they have the upper hand in this issue.
“The expensive proposal is nothing more than a political power grab by the GOP at the expense of seniors, students, minorities and low income Pennsylvanians,” said the party in a press release this week.
Since there is no evidence of significant voter fraud, they say, why risk disenfranchising legitimate voters?
The Dems note that the current voting system already requires citizens to show proof of identity on one’s initial visit to a designated polling location, and that the left-leaning Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center has estimated that the cost of new photo IDs could reach $11 million.
The bill is a “solution in search of a problem,” quipped Rep. Babbette Josephs (D-Philadelphia).
The PA Dems have also forwarded editorials against the law around to the press.
However, it’s unclear if this is a fight the Democrats can win. A Rasmussen poll out today shows that 75 percent of voters nationally favor such a law, while only 18 percent oppose it.
The final test will come during the vote on the bill, likely next week, when we’ll see which party picks up more defections from the other.
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2 Responses
Rep. Josephs took the words right out of my mouth – this is a solution in search of a problem, and since there isn’t a real problem, it will instead create them – for a lot of people. Shouldn’t we be asking ourselves what the hidden agenda is here, since the stated agenda doesn’t exist? For years the complaint was that voters didn’t come to the polls, or didn’t even bother to register. That is still a problem that needs a solution – not more hoops and hurdles. We still have a problem with voter apathy – will this help that issue? No, I don’t believe it will. What it WILL do is disenfranchise the elderly, the people with disabilities who find it difficult to get places to do these things, the poor (who also can’t afford the ID, or a car or a license to drive one, or bus fare, etc.), minorities who may struggle with understanding these requirements due to language barriers, people who are already angry with government intrusiveness – the list goes on. The only people who seem to think this is a great idea are the perpetually fearful and paranoid. That disenfranchisement seems to be the only real objective here – who cares whether the riff-raff has easy access to the voting booth? They almost always vote for Democrats anyway – and that IS truely what this action is meant to obstruct.
As I write this, the proposed legislation is very nearly on the Governor’s desk, and I’m sure he will sign it into law – even if it does waste another $11 million of our tax dollars. It’s all about (political) priorities, is it not? Rasmussen’s right-wing polls notwithstanding, I seriously doubt too many Pennsylvanians are even aware of this issue. As is so often the case, the chronically uninformed citizens of this state will wake up AFTER the fact – too late to object. I can’t speak for residents of other cities and towns in this state (I live in Central PA) as to whether they had this information readily available. I only became aware of the status of this issue about a week ago, because I happened to catch a brief article about it in a newspaper from a neighboring town. Since then I’ve made a more determined effort to inform myself – mostly to no avail. One VERY brief mention was made on local TV news,
one letter to the editor (in favor) turned up in the Patriot-News (my hometown paper), and now I’ve found this post on the Politics PA webpage. Way to go media – nice job on keeping us in the know not). So I fully expect this bill to become law, probably sometime in this last week of June 2011, and in November when people go to the polls, the biggest question will be “What? What do you mean I need ID? When did THAT happen?” The blame for that probable scenario can be shared far and wide – and that makes this whole situation even sadder. This action was NEVER necessary, and the only fraud being perpetrated here is by the party puppets – ON the citizens of PA.
It shouldn’t matter that 75% of people mindlessly favor such a law. I thought it was ironic that 18% opposed, because that’s the best estimate of how many senior citizens lack a valid ID – 18%. When a senior citizen reaches the age where they can no longer drive, most don’t go through the hassle of going to their DMV just to get a state ID. What do they need it for? Most of these people are homebound or live in some kind of senior housing facility where their needs are met on site. They aren’t getting on airplanes or opening new bank accounts. They certainly aren’t getting carded at bars! It’s disrespectful to make them jump through additional hurdles to vote.
In this country, a majority of citizens aren’t supposed to be able to take rights away from a minority of citizens; certainly not our most basic right to vote. I hope State Reps stand up for seniors and vote this bill down.