There is good deal of confusion about whether Pennsylvania voters will be required to produce a photo ID at polling places on November 6th. The current status of the voter ID law is that photo identification is not necessary to vote on November 6th. Even though a photo ID is not required this Election Day, workers at the polls are permitted to ask for photo ID when voters sign in to vote, however a lack of photo ID will NOT prohibit people from exercising their constitutional right.
Last March Governor Corbett enacted a law requiring that Pennsylvania voters produce photo identification at the polls prior to voting. The stated purpose of the law was to prevent voter fraud by insuring that voters were who they said they were. Supporters claim the law is about ensuring the integrity of elections and preserving the principle of “one person, one vote.” Under the law voters would be required to produce a current government issued photo ID which must contain the voter’s name and an expiration date. The law allows for various forms of photo identification, including those held by drivers, government employees, and in-state college students. Voters who do not possess these forms of identification can obtain voting-only photo IDs issued by the Pennsylvania Department of State through the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT).
Opponents of the voter ID law challenged it by claiming it was designed as a method to limit various segments of the populace from casting ballots. The laws’ challengers claim that there is little or no evidence of voter fraud in the Commonwealth and that requiring elderly or lower income individuals to obtain a photo ID when they do not already have one (or, apparently, need one) disenfranchises those voters of their rights.
Over the summer the challenge to the law made its way to the Commonwealth Court where Judge Robert Simpson heard arguments concerning the controversial aspect of having to get a Federal or State photo ID to vote. At that point he refused to issue any injunction barring the new law. In so doing, he agreed with the Corbett Administration’s argument that it was doing enough to educate voters about the requirements of the law so that voters would not be disenfranchised. Opponents appealed Judge Simpson’s decision to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which partly rejected his analysis and ordered him to hear the case again, but this time determine if the procedures being used by PennDOT for deployment of the ID cards complied with the requirement established by the Pennsylvania General Assembly for liberal access to photo ID.
With the revised instruction Judge Simpson granted a preliminary injunction that temporarily strips the requirement for voters to show a photo ID at the polls. Poll workers are permitted to ask for a photo ID but voters without sanctioned ID will not be turned away or prevented from voting. Proponents and opponents to the law have opted not to appeal Judge Simpson’s decision to strike down the requirement for the November 6, 2012 election. It is expected that a final decision on this controversial law will be handed down by next spring’s primary election.
— J. Ken Butera