I was just writing about this yesterday...and look what happened in my state of Pennsylvania..The Pennsylvania State Senate, along nearly partisan lines, passed a bill Wednesday that would make Pennsylvania the 16th state to require its residents to show photo identification at the polls.
After more than four hours of debate, senators voted, 26-23, to approve the so-called voter ID bill. Its Republican sponsors contend it is needed to protect the integrity of elections. What integrity? The Democrats countered that it is nothing more than a partisan attempt to suppress their side's votes in a presidential election year, which is true.
The bill now heads for the House, which passed a stricter version last summer. If approved there - as is expected in that GOP-controlled chamber as early as next week - it would go to Gov.Tom Corbett, who has said he supports the concept, and would take effect in time for the Nov. 6 election.How ironic! That's exactlywhat it was designed for...They aren't fooling anybody.
"This bill is a simple, commonsense measure to protect the integrity of the voting process, which is the very foundation of our democracy," said Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R., Delaware) as debate on the bill commenced Wednesday.
One after another, Democratic senators rose to argue the exact opposite. Those senators, as well as the Pennsylvania chapter of the ACLU, said Wednesday night they would challenge the measure in court if it becomes law.
Democrats contended the bill would disproportionately hurt the elderly, the poor and the disabled, who make up the lion's share of voters who typically do not have photo IDs. Those groups also tend to vote Democratic.
Over the last year, Republican legislators in state after state have introduced similar voter ID bills - so many that the National Conference of State Legislatures, which tracks legislation nationwide, has called voter ID the hottest election-related topic.
The push for such laws, Democrats contend, is part of a national effort to skew state and federal races in favor of Republicans. "I call you a hypocrite today if you vote for this bill," State Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams (D., Phila.) said in Wednesday's debate.
Williams and other Democrats challenged Republicans to cite specific studies or evidence of voter fraud being rampant.
During the floor debate, Pileggi cited a 2005 report by an election commission headed by former President Jimmy Carter and former Secretary of State James Baker that supported the use of photo IDs - the two men called for standardized photo IDs in the states - as a way to ensure fair elections.
But neither Pileggi nor any other senator cited a specific example of fraud. Of course they didn't...and you know why??..Because there is none! This is just more Republican mythology designed to hide the fact that they really don't have a clue how to solve the nation's economic ills...and also that they intend to do everything humanly possible to keep this president from being re-elected.
My Grandfather used to say that in between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh...Pennsylvania might as well be Alabama..He was right!
1 comment:
Keith, PopPop was right then and his words ring true now!! We're living on the dusty roads between Selma and Montgomery. I do believe the ACLU will fight this in court but we know who the judges are in PA and in all likelihood the bill will stand. We now must be prepared to vote with the proper id and be ready to replace those who would so choose to disenfranchise our neighbors. Yesterday I registered 2 new voters who had no idea that this id "mess" is on the way. Educate and vote must be our new mantra!
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