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The following was published in the Daily Local News of Chester County: (click here for link to site.)
The state Senate must make passage of the Voter Photo ID bill (HB 934) its top priority this new session. HB 934 requires that voters produce a valid photo ID each time a ballot is cast. This bill was passed in June 2011 by the state House of Representatives and has inexcusably been stalled for six months in the Senate.
Rep. Daryl Metcalf (R-Butler), the bill’s prime sponsor, has noted that HB 934 is modeled after Indiana’s strict photo ID law. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Indiana law in 2008 by ruling that states can require voters to produce photo IDs without violating their constitutional rights. One majority opinion stated that the (Indiana) law “is amply justified by the valid interest in protecting the integrity and reliability of the electoral process.”
Currently, 31 states require that some type of ID be presented every time a voter casts a ballot. Pennsylvania’s current law requires voters to show ID only when voting in a given polling place for the first time, but does not require ID subsequently at the same location (SB 824, Act of Dec. 9, 2002, P.L. 1246, No. 150).
Attorney General Holder’s Justice Department and a disproportionate number of Democrats oppose ID requirements, opining that those who do not possess a driver’s license, such as minorities and the elderly, could be disenfranchised. The fact that Pennsylvania voters should already possess the ID that they were required to use for first-time voting in a precinct makes this argument invalid. (It should be relatively simple to convert their required first-time ID to a proper photo ID.)
One type of voter fraud is unfortunately facilitated by the fact that it often takes years to remove deceased and relocated individuals from voter rolls. HB 934 will help maintain electoral integrity by preventing, or at the very least, minimizing, the multiple types of voter fraud that have been practiced by organized groups such as ACORN in past elections. Fraudulent votes must not be allowed to nullify legitimate ones!
It is of utmost importance that the citizens of our Commonwealth be assured that election results be fair, honest, and devoid of fraud. To that end, the state Senate must pass HB 934 without further delay in order for photo ID procedures to be implemented in the Nov. 6, 2012 presidential election – the election that many of us consider to be the most important of our lifetimes.
The list of situations in which a photo ID is required is extensive and continually expanding. Interestingly enough, the first requirement on the application for food stamp disaster relief after Hurricane Irene noted that “photo ID and proof of residency is required.”
Rep. Metcalf accurately and succinctly expressed the sentiments of those who favor the implementation of Voter Photo IDs when he said: “Currently in Pennsylvania, it is impossible to board a commercial airplane, cash a paycheck, operate a motor vehicle or even purchase a season pass to an amusement park without displaying valid photo ID. Guaranteeing the integrity of our state’s election process deserves no less than equal protection under the law.”
Joanne Yurchak
West Chester
