Pennsylvania Dems try to stop photo ID requirement for voters

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ^ | Monday, September 23, 2002 | John M.R. Bull, Post-Gazette Harrisburg Correspondent

[pittsburgh gop guy]

Dems try to stop photo ID requirement for voters

Monday, September 23, 2002

By John M.R. Bull, Post-Gazette Harrisburg Correspondent

HARRISBURG -- A Republican bill that would require voters to produce photo identification at the polling booth is an "appalling and disgraceful" attempt to suppress Democratic voter turnout, some state Senate Democrats said today.

The bill, pushed through the House by Republicans in June, has languished in the Senate, and Democrats fear it will gain final passage in the days before the November election.

Republicans who support the measure say it would cut down on voter fraud, preventing people from voting twice, and provide better security at the polling places by making sure voters are who they say they are.

To Democrats, it's "nothing more than a political gangster rule to hijack this election this November," as state Sen. Vincent Hughes, D-Philadelphia, put it.

Requiring either a driver's license or a passport would turn away from the polls a higher percentage of African-Americans who don't have photo identification and seniors who no longer drive, and would most impact the heavily Democratic vote in Philadelphia, Hughes said at a press conference today with other Democrat Senators.

Senate Republicans issued a statement saying there are no plans to push the bill through the Republican-controlled Senate at this point.

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More details in tomorrow's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

[pittsburgh gop guy]

I love that this measure passed - hopefully it stands! That way Fisher will have an honest shot and not have to worry about votes magically appearing in Philly.

[The Shootist]

The problem is picture IDs are an invasion of privacy and are our one more step to dictatorship.

[tomahawk]

How do we verify that a voter is who they say they are?

[Taylor42]

Sorry, I completely disagree. Photo Id should be the law in all 50 states.

[afraidfortherepublic]

Senate Republicans issued a statement saying there are no plans to push the bill through the Republican-controlled Senate at this point.

Outrageous! This must be the home state of Arlen "Scottish Law" Spector. What a bunch of RINOs! Get that law passed and signed and implemented! ASAP. The whiner Dems are just afraid that this measure will interfere with their time-worn method of stealing elections -- corpses don't photograph very pretty.

[07055]

Requiring either a driver's license or a passport would turn away from the polls a higher percentage of African-Americans who don't have photo identification

Where is the evidence of this? What studies have been done?

Why wouldn't African Americans have driver's licenses? Don't they drive too? Or is it that white man prohibits them from driving?

[Maximum Leader]

Unless you wear a burkha, how can a picture of your face be an invasion of your privacy?

[airborne]

I do not dispute or agree with your opinion. But being a PA native with a wife and two young boys, I hope for something to enable Fisher to overcome the vote fraud typical of Philly and Pittsburgh. Selfish as it is.

[afraidfortherepublic]

...picture IDs are an invasion of privacy

Invasion of privacy? Who are you trying to kid? Do you go around in a burka?

[dyed_in_the_wool]

The problem is picture IDs are an invasion of privacy and are our one more step to dictatorship.

How so? In PA you already need to go to 'the Man' for a gun. He knows where you live, how much you make and how many weapons you have. Why not let him have a picture of you, too?

[Grut]

Senate Republicans issued a statement saying there are no plans to push the bill through the Republican-controlled Senate at this point.

Well, of course not!

[pittsburgh gop guy]

I am trying to get some inside info on this - but think that they might run it next month and pass it before the November election. It WILL get challenged in court - no doubt.

And the Democrats are right. It will keep African Americans from voting....a second or third time! And that is what the Demonrats are worried about.

[edger]

Did you know that Vicente Fox broke the 70-year monopoly the PRI party had on Mexican elections because, in the latest election, photo-IDs were required of all Mexican voters?

[afraidfortherepublic]

Why wouldn't African Americans have driver's licenses?

Photo IDs are required for admission to both the YMCA and to Sam's Club in Milwaukee. This requirement does not deter African-Americans from utilizing either facility.

No, these arguments are just Dummycrat propaganda ploys designed to keep their favorite method of stealing elections intact. We hear the same bogus arguments in Wisconsin.

The Wisconsin legislature offered to make the Drivers License bureaus available for free picture IDs for anyone (indeed, they are already available) and the Dems in the Senate still wouldn't bring this measure to the floor for a vote. The refused to consider the budget unless the Voter Photo ID idea was dropped. Sheer blackmail!

[The Old Hoosier]

You need an ID to buy beer or cigarettes, don't you? Are you telling me blacks and seniors don't drink or smoke?

[steveegg]

In this case, it is not. The alternative is more stolen elections through multiple voters, dead voters, magical vote counts, etc.

It is strange to see the RATs, who want internal passports for everything else, oppose a measure that would threaten their very existence by removing one of the major methods of their fraudulent stranglehold on power.

[Grut]

Incidentally, do Pennsylvanians need photo ID to buy smokes/booze?

[afraidfortherepublic]

...but think that they might run it next month and pass it before the November election. It WILL get challenged in court - no doubt.

But will it take effect in time for the election? Isn't there a waiting period before a new law takes effect?

[Pharmboy]

If a similar law were to pass in Illinois, would Cook County voters have to prove themselves alive also?

[afraidfortherepublic]

You tell 'em, Steve!