Now that Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court has sent the state’s version of the ALEC inspired voter ID law back to the lower court , asking the Judge to consider enjoining the law, it is probable that Pennsylvania’s voter ID will go to that place down under especially reserved for vote suppression laws.
Just the same, some counties in Pennsylvania adopted an innovative approach to assuring that people do get the ID they need under the law.
According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Montgomery and Alleghany Counties used a loophole in the law that allows Colleges and Nursing homes to issue voter ID’s to anyone who resides in their counties.
It also appears that other counties are seriously considering adopting the same approach.
“A voter-ID mutiny launched by Democratic-controlled Montgomery and Allegheny Counties showed signs of spreading across the state Friday, as Philadelphia and a handful of other local governments said they, too, would consider issuing poll-ready identification cards through county-run nursing homes and colleges.”
This is one of those special moments, since at least some Republicans are showing little desire to oppose this measure, despite the fact that Democrats came up with the idea.
“I don’t think anyone contemplated the possibility of a county nursing home becoming an issuer of an identification document that could be used to satisfy the voter-ID requirement,” said Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R., Delaware), a key force in enacting the law last March. But he added, “I am not against the principle of other entities having the ability to issue cards, as long as we have uniform standards and safeguards in place.”
Of course, the Pennsylvania’s Department of State’s spokesman Ron Ruman opposes this approach.
“It’s clearly contrary to the intent of the law,” said spokesman Ron Ruman. “We believe it raises tremendous safety and liability issues. If my child attended a school that was giving out such IDs, I would have serious concerns.”
Well of course, it is clearly contrary to the intent of a law that was intended to suppress the vote so that Pennsylvania would be delivered to Kaiser Romney. Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, who was the original sponsor of the law. The original stated intent was to prevent non-existent voter fraud. But now that the talking point has been discredited, Metcalf adopted Mitt Romney’s disastrous 47% meme to justify his voter suppression law. Metcalf admits that he thinks “you people” in the 47% are probably too lazy to bother getting the ID anyway. Moreover, if you’re one of those “lazy 47%” you don’t deserve the vote anyway.
HOST: Are you absolutely convinced…that the methods to implement this law are effective and will in fact make sure no legitimate voter will be disenfranchised?
METCALFE: I don’t believe any legitimate voter that actually wants to exercise that right and takes on the according responsibility that goes with that right to secure their photo ID will be disenfranchised. As Mitt Romney said, 47% of the people that are living off the public dole, living off their neighbors’ hard work, and we have a lot of people out there that are too lazy to get up and get out there and get the ID they need. If individuals are too lazy, the state can’t fix that.
Even though it does defy the political intent of Metcalf’s bill; Ron Ruman did acknowledge that it’s legal according to the Chester County’s Daily Local News.
“We believe its legal, but we don’t believe it’s appropriate,”
Right there’s nothing appropriate about the idea that voting is a right, rather than the “privilege” Republicans think it ought to be.
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NativeSonKY (@NativeSonKY)
Sep. 22nd, 2012 at 8:27 pm
I’m glad to see some creative thinking people putting a stop to this suppression. I watched too many people fight and die on my TV in the late 60s while fighting for these rights. It’s a damn shame to sit here 45 years later and watch it all go to hell.
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503me
Sep. 23rd, 2012 at 3:55 pm
I also remember that time, and like you am horrified that now its happening all over again. We the people need to vote this year like never before and we need to ensure that all we know are registered and help them if needed to be able to vote. In my state we vote by mail, and we have the highest turnout in the state. You have to show id to get the registered voter card and then if you move, you need to show proof of your new address. Works good, and of course there is no voter fraud(never was, only in theGOP brain)
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Shiva (Moderator)
Sep. 22nd, 2012 at 8:31 pm
The problem I see is that the Dems will not use the congress to investigate any actions taken to restrict the voters. The gop might not like it
Anyone doing this in the congress needs to go before ethics. Anyone in the state doing it needs to go before ethics if only to destroy their reputations.
This is wrong beyond wrong. This is FAR worse than losing your ….god dare I say it………fucking GUNS
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Churchlady
Sep. 23rd, 2012 at 12:35 am
Shiva – this is an issue of voting rights and is already being investigated by AG Holder via the local district US Attorneys and federal courts. That’s why the court intervened and sent it all back to the lower court. Congress really does not have a LEGISLATIVE issue here. The laws are already on the books and are clear so a judicial investigation will continue into whether the advocates for voter ID were clearly trying to supress the vote or not.
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EducatingAmericans
Sep. 22nd, 2012 at 8:53 pm
If it is not illegal, go for it full force! I’m sure the Republicans have the ethical standing to determine “the intent of the law,” after pursuing a law to avoid “mythical voter fraud”!
Every county in PA should institute this means to get people to the polls in record numbers!
God works in mysterious ways, his wonders to perform.
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1voice1vote
Sep. 22nd, 2012 at 8:54 pm
Sarah Silverman also has a solution to the Republican voter suppression by ID/Jim Crow laws: NSFW: “Let My People Vote 2012 – Get Nana A Gun”(permit)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypRW5qoraTw&feature=player_embedded#!
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Reynardine
Sep. 22nd, 2012 at 10:27 pm
The open shamelessness of the GOP has me nonplussed. Has arrogance made them stupid, or do they actually think they can alienate all the ewepeople and *rule* without being elected?
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503me
Sep. 23rd, 2012 at 3:57 pm
I have wondered the same thing. It seems everyday, there is some new’ gop’ blunder and even though they are alienating most of the country, they seem to be way to sure that they will be able to ‘buy’ there seats. Please everyone vote this year
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David Hinson
Sep. 22nd, 2012 at 10:41 pm
when are these bastards terms up? get them all out of there
signed, not an angry white man anymore
i have calmed down
now i look for truth
tired of hearing the lies
and angry again but
not at who they want me to be angry at
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Terry
Sep. 22nd, 2012 at 10:44 pm
What I do not understand is how people can say voter fraud isn’t a problem. Here’s just 1 example, in the 2004 election in Illinois, 5 officials in the Democratic party where convicted for vote buying, there where Charles Powell, Jr., East St. Louis Democrat Party Chairman, Kelvin Ellis, East St. Louis former director of regulatory affairs, Sheila Thomas, East St. Louis Democrat precinct committeeman, Jesse Lewis, East St. Louis Democrat precinct committeeman, Yvette Johnson, East St. Louis City Hall worker. the St. Clair County Democratic Central Committee provided the cash. Now before everyone gets in an uproar there are also cases where Republican officials took part in voter fraud as well. And lets not talk about Al Franken. He won the election by 312 votes and give Obama what he needed. People see Voter fraud isn’t a bad problem, however we now know that there were 1099 votes cast by convicted felons and so far 243 of them are in jail for voter fraud. Now the state will not tell us how many of those votes were for Al but when the race is decided by 312 votes and you know 1099 for fraud that means there is a real possibility voters in Minnesota where cheated.
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Sally
Sep. 22nd, 2012 at 11:40 pm
Voters in MN have been cheated by Bachmann, who has done nothing this term but runa round accusing people of being communists. She votes for nothing, spent three months pretending to run for President, and is part of the Norquist elite, who think they pay too many taxes, and that starving the government will bring down the deficit. You know, by throwing private sector workers on the street, and eliminating millions in revenue, that darn deficit is bound to go…UP. I’d worry far more about how Bachmann got into office than the closely monitored Franken race.
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majii
Sep. 23rd, 2012 at 12:32 am
MN has one of the best election systems in the nation, Terry. I followed Norm Coleman’s challenge of Al Franken’s win in 2008 through the Up Take site, and the process was very thorough. There was no fraud involved, although those who didn’t want Franken to win, claim there was. The votes were recounted, then the case went to a bi-partisan state elections board, it later went before the state Supreme Court. At the end of these processes, it was decided that Franken had won fair and square. It was a long, drawn out process that prevented Al Franken from taking his seat in the Senate for several months, so it could hardly be claimed that it was a haphazard process that was used to determine which candidate won the U.S. Senate seat. When the U.S. Supreme Court declared that GWB had won the presidential election in 2004, I didn’t like it, but I realized I had to accept it because although I didn’t agree with the SC’s decision, it is the court of final resort in the U.S.
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Jeff R
Sep. 23rd, 2012 at 4:13 am
I am not familiar with or convinced of your assertions. On the other hand you can read all about what’s going on in Pennsylvania where the rightist from a subsidiary of True the Vote wanted 30,000 voters purged from the voting rolls saying they were deceased. The county registrars have spend weeks and millions of dollars checking into the assertion and the names. A few were deceased, the overwhelming majority were not, but there was not a single case of voter fraud found.
A recent study in another state found the incidence of actual voter fraud to be 0.0002%. The final relevant fact is that non-partisan analysis by many state secretaries of state show that NONE of the methods specified in a single piece of supposedly anti-fraud legislation passed or proposed in ANY state would stop voter fraud. It will only stop voting, which is its intent.
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John Abreau
Sep. 25th, 2012 at 5:50 am
One of the reasons Republicans are obsessed with voter fraud is because they were committing it themselves in 2008. I remember hearing reports of Diebold voting machines in several swing states changing a large number of Obama votes into McCain votes. When those states went to Obama despite the GOP vote tampering, the GOP had to resort to crazy conspiracy theories to explain it to themselves.
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Jann Swanson
Sep. 22nd, 2012 at 10:48 pm
Reynardine – my fear for over two years is that the books are cooked for this election. It is the only explanation I can come up with for the overt – everything; disregard of women’s rights, racism, crushing the unions, voter suppression, the shutdown of FAA, the debt limit hostage-taking, etc. If you don’t have to worry about winning an election you can do what you damn well please.
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Eyes of TX
Sep. 22nd, 2012 at 11:11 pm
@David Hinson….Beautiful!!! I’d kiss u if I could! The GOP has become so blathering and miserable it’s sickening! Their relentless attack on any group of people that’s not blond-hair/blue eyes/of the male persuasion is absolutely, friggin,ridiculous! They have taken hate to a whole new level! I still maintain that alot of this nonsense let’s hate everybody attitude started with silly Sarah Palin. Those men were so blinded by her petite figure, good legs, tight butt and good looks she has them hypnotized just like Delilah. After she took all their strength(& made them So enthralled with her they stopped thinking with their heads on their shoulders) she led them astray, way out in left field and left them there. Now they have secluded themselves so much that their stupid pride and egos will allow them to starve out there on their own! Be careful of Delilah/….she’s a cold blossed son of a gun!
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rewinn
Sep. 22nd, 2012 at 11:31 pm
Terry brought up the case of Minnesota. The numbers he is talking of is of felons who voted although their right to vote had not been restored.
Terry gives no evidence that they favored one party or another, and it’s obvious why: Republicans commit crimes same as Democrats.
I can tell you that in Washington State, when we had a similar inquiry after the Gregoire v. Rossi election, 80% of the felons found to have voted were registered republican and the others were Libertarians.
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majii
Sep. 23rd, 2012 at 12:48 am
“It’s clearly contrary to the intent of the law,” said spokesman Ron Ruman. “We believe it raises tremendous safety and liability issues. If my child attended a school that was giving out such IDs, I would have serious concerns.”
When he uttered these words, Ruman pretty much admitted that the main point of PA’s new voter ID law was to suppress the votes of anyone who doesn’t vote for republicans. It shouldn’t make any difference where a college student gets his/her voter ID. One would think that a lawmaker would encourage our young people to vote!
I believe that in their zeal to suppress the vote, these legislators wrote this bill in a sloppy manner and left the loophole that none of them realized anyone else would be smart enough to read and take advantage of. This voter ID law reminds me of Louisiana’s new school voucher law. The lawmakers in the state legislature thought they were helping to fund the creation of many new Christian schools, but they had a sad when they discovered that non-Christian schools could also acquire the funds. I recall one female legislator saying that if she had known this, she wouldn’t have voted in favor of the bill that created the law. I’ve found that the reason many republican legislators write laws with huge flaws in them can be tied to the fact that republican voters don’t tend to care very much about competency in a politician as long as he/she can say outrageous things, promote stupid conspiracy theories, and bash his/her democratic opponent. IMO, this is how “lawmakers” like Allen West and Joe Walsh got elected to Congress.
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galactusx
Sep. 23rd, 2012 at 3:35 am
This cretinous piece of shit needs to be unemployed pronto. Show you are not lazy when he comes up for re-election.
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wildee7
Sep. 23rd, 2012 at 6:36 am
Exactly galactusx! Vote ALL those voter supression, hate mongering, job killing, tax evading, fake patriotic, vaginally obcessed, elitist idiots out,then maybe we can get some meaningful legislation passed!
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JT
Sep. 23rd, 2012 at 4:49 am
The suppression laws are going to backfire on the GOP. For the first time in decades, Joe Sixpack is being told that his right to vote is being taken away from him. This heightened awareness will result in increased voter registration, not less – and those new registrations will also spur getting to the voting booth. Th vast majority of the “new” voters aren’t likely to reward the repubs for forcing them to pay attention to their voting rights. There may be some repression in this election cycle, but 2016 will have a new voting bloc and they won’t be voting for republicans.
Sometimes, it’s best to let sleeping dogs lie, and the republicans will have created another wall between themselves and the American people.
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Mary
Sep. 23rd, 2012 at 10:55 am
The pathetic repugs know that without buying or stealing the election. They are doomed for many years to come..
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Anne
Sep. 23rd, 2012 at 10:59 am
This piece of good news is uplifting, especially since the voter suppression would go a long way toward affecting even people it wasn’t intended to disenfranchise with far-reaching and long-lasting effects. Do any Republicans who are elderly, disabled, poor, or students seriously believe that THEY wouldn’t be adversely affected as well? I hope, and believe, that these voter suppression attempts will backfire in a major way against the GOP.
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Jeanne Tifft
Sep. 23rd, 2012 at 11:04 am
Sarah Silverman says that a gun license is also acceptable voter id which the Repugnicans accept … it may be easier for some to get that than another type.
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Cc
Sep. 23rd, 2012 at 3:04 pm
Free ID available????? WHERE? HOW?
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503me
Sep. 23rd, 2012 at 4:01 pm
Does it not go agains the legal right to vote, when it costs money for the id?
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stenc
Sep. 23rd, 2012 at 10:20 pm
Neo-Fascism rearing it’s ugly head-In the Republican Party, United States of America, 2012.
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Inez
Sep. 24th, 2012 at 9:53 am
The GOP in Congress, including Boehner have stated that they will not pass any bills advantageous to Obama and want him to be a one term president. This voter fraud crap is another deterrent to Obama’s victory AND a disgrace that these tactics are proliferated……….The GOP will turn their heads 360 degrees, just like in the Exorcist when they are defeated for their underhanded, despicable, improper, below the belt tactics when they lose on 11/6.
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