| Story Views | |
| Now: | |
| Last Hour: | |
| Last 24 Hours: | |
| Total: | |
Judge allows PA’s Voter ID law to proceed
87% of Pennsylvanians support voter ID
Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court Judge Robert Simpson has refused to stop a new voter photo ID law from going into effect. The law requires all Pennsylvania voters to produce identification before casting a ballot. The judge didn’t rule on the merits of the case, only whether to grant a preliminary injunction stopping it from taking effect.
Judge Simpson’s decision can be read here.*
The Republican supported law, which passed despite every Democrat legislator voting against it, is being challenged by the usual suspects, including the left-of-center League of Women Voters, the Homeless Advocacy Project and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. “We’re not done. It’s not over,” said Witold Walczak, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer who helped argue the case for the plaintiffs. “It’s why they make appeals courts.” The ACLU provided free legal representation, arguing they will be impeded in voting if having to produce valid identification.
Republican Gov. Tom Corbett signed House Bill 934 into law in March — the intent of which is simply to protect the integrity of elections. Check out the party line votes in the House and Senate. Gov. Corbett won election as Pennsylvania’s Attorney General with more than three million votes — more votes than any Republican candidate in the history of Pennsylvania. Read his impressive bio here.
Opponents are expected to file an appeal to the state Supreme Court within days as the November 6 presidential election nears.
In July the liberal Washington Post released this poll indicating 74% — nearly three-quarters of all Americans support showing a photo ID prior to voting. Had the Post not tried to game the results by framing the question as to whether you would support the requirement of an “official, government-issued” ID to vote, the numbers would likely have been even higher. Rasmussen shows 73% of voters favor Voter ID.
In Pennsylvania, the matter now hinges on the state’s Supreme Court, which needs four of six justices to overturn Judge Simpson‘s ruling. But the high court is currently split between three Republicans and three Democrats following the recent suspension of Republican Justice Joan Orie Melvin, who is fighting criminal charges.
*H/T WFMZ-TV 69
2012-08-15 13:35:28
Source: http://seeingredaz.wordpress.com/2012/08/15/judge-allows-pas-voter-id-law-to-proceed/
Source:
