Posted on 07/01/2002 2:00:24 PM PDT by smokinleroy
Kill Metcalfe voter plan
In the most blatant attempt to disenfranchise voters since the “Jim Crow” laws of the old South, the Republican majority in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives rammed through a late-night measure sponsored by Rep. Daryl Metcalfe of Butler County, by a vote of 100-99, that could prevent thousands of registered Pennsylvanians from voting in the fall election.
If this measure is enacted, Pennsylvania would join South Carolina as having the most restrictive voter identification requirement in the nation.
The amendment requires voters to present either their voter registration cards or “valid” photo identification prior to voting at the polls. Examples of valid photo identification cards include driver’s licenses, student identification cards, employee identification cards, U.S. passports, and armed forces identification.
This vote, above all, points to the Republican Party’s desperate attempt to hold on to power in the face of losing control of the governor’s mansion and the state House this coming November.
The Republicans’ raw political power play was transparently evident when they rejected an attempt by Democratic Leader William DeWeese to amend the bill to make the photo ID requirements apply to the July 16 special election to fill the seat of resigned Rep. John Barley of Lancaster.
More important than the politics of this issue is the flagrant disregard the Republican majority showed for one of our most fundamental rights as citizens of the United States and Pennsylvania — the right to vote. Until the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1964, many Southern states had “Jim Crow” laws on the books that required literacy tests to suppress the rights of blacks and poor whites to vote.
By requiring a photo identification card, such as a driver’s license or employee card, many Pennsylvanians such as lower-income people and senior citizens who don’t drive would be denied the right to vote.
Moreover, people who simply forget their registration cards or photo IDs would be deprived the opportunity to vote.
Most voters don’t even carry their voter registration cards with them, or have thrown them away. In fact, the back of voter registration cards clearly states that they relate only to date of issue, not proof of the right to vote.
In other words, they specifically say you don’t need them to vote.
The 2000 presidential election provided an unfortunate situation where outdated and unreliable voter equipment disenfranchised thousands of voters and altered the course of the election. This should have been a lesson to all of us.
Yet, the House Republicans compounded these mechanical obstacles to voting by erecting an institutional roadblock. In an era when fewer than half of eligible voters go to the polls, this is an arrogant slap in the face to democracy and the citizens of Pennsylvania.
If the Senate and Gov. Mark Schweiker care at all about our fundamental right to vote, they will reject Senate Bill 824, as passed by the House. As for the House members who voted for the amendment, the very voters they would disenfranchise might disenfranchise them in November.
State Rep. Phyllis Mundy 120th District, Luzerne County
Now, back to reality -
Daryl Metcalf is a good guy, he's on our side. And this proposal just gives me more confidence in him.
EBUCK
OMG, how can we vote 5 or 6 times for our dimocRat politican if we have to prove who we are? Oh woe is me.
One question - why wasn't this posted on DU where it belongs?
I went to the other district and voted, but what I learned that day was that elections officials have a bigger part in deciding elections than many people give them credit for, for better or worse. I doubt that this legislation will make any difference if there aren't effective enforcement methods (including following and prosecuting vote fraud violations) put in place.
All in all Pennsylvania is a conservative State. Very Pro-Gun and Pro-Life, the state has a Republican House, A Republican Senate, A majority of the PA Congressional Delegation is Republican, Both U.S. Senators are Republican (Although one is a RINO) and every statewide official except the auditor general is Republican.
Yet PA voted Gore over Bush, ONLY because of the Philadelphia precents turning out 99.9% of the vote to Gore.
Ed Rendell who is an ultra-liberal beat the more conservative Bob Casey Jr. Even though Casey won all but a few counties in the southeast. Vote fraud in Philly put Rendell over the top.
Republican Mike Fisher will win the race for Gov. in the fall if the democrat scum in Philadelphia cannot vote more than once.
Oh no, you're one of those "gasp" evil conservatives. (Good answer, BTW) zip
I know Senate republicans led by Kit Bond tried but I don't think the legislation really got anywhere.
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