Pennsylvania Judge Upholds Voter ID Law
- Posted on August 15, 2012 at 1:09pm by
Madeleine Morgenstern
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AP
A Pennsylvania judge on Wednesday ruled that a new voter identification law can go into effect after opponents charged it would unfairly target minorities, college students, the poor and the elderly.
The decision by Judge Robert E. Simpson paves the way for Pennsylvania to require voters to present photo identification before casting their ballots at the polls on Nov. 6.
In his 70-page opinion, Simpson said the petitioners — including the League of Women Voters and the NAACP — failed to establish that “disenfranchisement was immediate or inevitable.”
Simpson said opponents “did an excellent job of `putting a face’ to those burdened by the voter ID requirement,” but said that wasn’t enough to grant an injunction against the law.
“At the end of the day, however, I do not have the luxury of deciding this issued based on my sympathy for the witnesses or my esteem for counsel,” Simpson said. “Rather, I must analyze the law, and apply it to evidence of facial unconstitutionality brought forth in the courtroom, tested by our adversarial system.”
Simpson also said more harm would come from blocking the law.
“This is because the process of implementation in general, and of public outreach and education in particular, is much harder to start, or restart, than it is to stop,” he said.
Pennsylvania Republican Gov. Tom Corbett signed the law in March after every Democratic lawmaker in the state voted against it. Opponents had asked the judge to delay it from going into effect until after the general election, the New York Times reported.
“We’re not done, it’s not over,” Witold J. Walczak, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer who helped argue the case for the plaintiffs, told the Associated Press. “It’s why they make appeals courts.”
Viviette Applewhite, the 93-year-old Philadelphia lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, said in a statement she “can’t believe” the ruling.
“Too many people have fought for the right to vote to have it taken away like this,” Applewhite said, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. “All I want is to be able to vote this November like I always have. This law is just ridiculous.”
Lawyers for the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office, which argued in defense of the law, said the state will issue special photo ID cards to registered voters who are unable to get Pennsylvania Department of Transportation-issued IDs, and are also rolling out a public campaign to make sure voters are aware of the change.
Logan Churchwell, a spokesman for the Houston-based election integrity group True the Vote, told TheBlaze they were celebrating the judge’s ruling but not necessarily surprised by it.
“It‘s obviously good news but True the Vote wasn’t really surprised by the ruling, given that Indiana’s voter ID law was upheld by the Supreme Court a few years back,” Churchwell said.
Simpson cited the 2008 Supreme Court decision that upheld the Indiana law, where the justices said the state had a “valid interest” in protecting elections and improving procedures.
The issue of voter identification laws has been fraught with controversy and accusations of racial motivations, including last month when NAACP President Benjamin Jealous likened the fight against them to “Selma and Montgomery times,” referring to the historic civil rights battles of the 1960s. Attorney General Eric Holder similarly said of a Texas ID law: “We call those poll taxes.”
The Justice Department is currently investigating whether the Pennsylvania’s law is in sync with federal law, a process started before Simpson’s ruling.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Comments (85)
South Philly Boy
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 2:25pmI had to go to the Social Security Office the other day and Guess What… I was ASKED FOR A PHOTO ID. WELL DON’T THAT BEAT ALL. And you see in a TV Ad an Old Woman CRYING the BLUES that she needs a ID to VOTE. Well how did she get her SOCIAL SECURITY?
Report Post »panache
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 2:57pmWithout voter fraud……put PA in the red column…..
Report Post »Godfather.1
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 3:02pmNoticeably absent from this story is the fact that the state of Pennsylvania was unable to find and produced absolutely no evidence of voter fraud to support the imposition of this law.
I thought TheBlaze was all about honest reporting and allowing you decide on your own. I guess Madeleine Morgenstern didn’t feel that was an important bit of information to share with you.
Report Post »LIBSALWAYSLIE
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 3:30pmGODFATHER1, Are you really that stupid? Showing an ID to vote is the right thing to do, end of story.
Report Post »Godfather.1
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 4:06pm@LIBSALWAYSLIE
Are you really that stupid to believe that voter fraud actually occurs in this country? Every independent report has shown that all of Fox News‘ and Glenn Beck’s scare stories are loads of ****. The fact that PA couldn’t produce a single bit of evidence to show that voter fraud exists shows what lemmings you are all and that you will believe anything Beck tells you.
Report Post »turkey13
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 4:38pmHere in Oklahoma I‘v had to do this since I moved here back in the 90’s. I live out in the sticks and I know the little old ladies that run the precinct I live in and always take them 3 copies of the Oklahoman newspaper and I still have to show my drivers license. If you can’t drive to the voteing precinct you can call Call A Ride and pay.25 and they will drive you there or to the Highway patrol to get a voter idenfication card. If you have a Social Security card you can get one and vote if you desire.
Report Post »Sosorryforyou
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 6:14pmGodfather is right. In fact, over the past decade, the DOJ has only prosecuted approx. 400 cases of voter fraud for the entire U.S – that’s both the Bush and Obama DOJ. That’s not even 2 cases per state over ten years. THERE IS NO PROBLEM WITH VOTER FRAUD. And, why this election? Why not say, the 2008 or 2010 elections? Everyone knows that the Right is lying as to why they are pushing for Voter I.D. laws before this election, and the key voting block is spitting mad about it. Absolutely unconstitutional!
Report Post »Zipit
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 6:19pm“WANTED FOR NOVEMBER ELECTION”, Poll watchers and monitors!!!! Job requirements and experience must include; hatred of white people and those who may appear to be conservative
Report Post »Ability to administer bodily harm to any of the above persons merely wishing to cast their vote for Mitt Romney. NO ID REQUIRED TO APPLY. Must be black and provide your own tools to be used at the worksite, ie, night sticks, billy clubs etc. Please apply in person at, the Philadelphia chapter of the New Black Panthers!
Zipit
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 7:34pmNosoupforyouSosorryforyou! HAH! FUNNY HAH !!!
Report Post »jhaydeng
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 8:22pmThis is the one topic that stings me! You are breaking the law if you can’t prove that you are not a legal citizen of the USA! You are an a-hole if you feel the contrary is correct!! I can‘t believe how dumb our population has become and how dumb our judicial system is for questioning it’s constitutionality!
Report Post »Angry Redneck
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 9:55pmViviette Applewhite, get to only vote once this election, so my vote will count in PA!
Report Post »RGFROMTEXAS
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 10:32pmIt’s not just the Voter ID Law. Other things by Republicans are stifling
the minority voters. It is traditional for blacks to early vote on Sunday as
“social event” after church. More Early voting is Done on Sunday than any
other day by Blacks. Guess What ?? Six states(Including Ohio) have no
Sunday early voting. Changed just this year.
Nebraska has had a different system over the years. In the last election
McCain got 4 electoral votes, Obama 1. Unlike all other states it was not
winner take all. It has been that way since they became a state on
March 1st 1867. That is now changed after all these years, Obama will not
get elctoral votes from that Red State. There are more.
I think the irony is that I see so many Blazers posting that our current
Report Post »President “steps on the Constitution” when this is the most blatent
violation of all.
Detroit paperboy
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 2:13pmNo ID,,,,,,NO WELFARE AND FOODSTAMPS…….they will all get ID overnight…….even the 350 pounders will find a way to run to get ID………
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 3:03pmThe American Founders seem to have expect that… the Right to Vote was tied to Ownership of Property… as electing Representatives to Spend Tax Collections was tied to People who Paid Taxes!
All Voting Rights Acts… ever since… were about Giving the Right to Vote to NON TAX PAYERS! So, they simply STEAL from others!
Report Post »AJAYW
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 2:11pmHolder will not stand for this
Report Post »MDDAWG
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 1:53pmWhy is it that the Democrats are the ones trying to reject voter ID laws?
If they say it affects minorities, then I would say that they are racist for thinking that minorities can’t figure out how to get an ID. It really is a put-down to minorities to think this way.
Report Post »starman70
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 1:59pmNo, it would keep illegal aliens and especially felons from voting. Rememver Al Franken had over 1,000 votes from FELONS.
You can bet that Holder and Odummer will work overtime to kill this law.
Report Post »thibx
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 1:49pmeric holder is as racist as ole jessie and al and oboma. race bate to line their pockets. should be a law against it. there is the hate crime. procute them all. ole holder has no time to do things right and work on the things he should be. lawless justice dept.
Report Post »Autarkic
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 1:47pmI got my drivers license and my 10 yr old son an ID in about 20 minutes. These people have had and still havve months to get an ID. Who in their right mind cannot see this for what it really is. Disenfranchise minorities my ass.
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 1:45pmExcellent.
Report Post »blackyb
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 1:52pmFinally, a judge with a brain and common sense.
Report Post »JACKTHETOAD
Posted on August 16, 2012 at 2:52amGo Judge Simpson. You hit a homer with that one…(ouch)
Report Post »QuincySmith
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 1:44pm“The Justice Department is currently investigating whether the Pennsylvania’s law is in sync with federal law, a process started before Simpson’s ruling.” ~~~~ It appears that little eric saw the writing one the wall. I cannot see how requiring identification (generally available free) can be considered a tax, but then I didn’t think oblamacare was either. I also think Martin Luther King would be satisfied with the Pennsylvania and Indiana laws.
Report Post »blackyb
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 1:49pmHolder should be in jail. His ability to handle the Truth in Justice is marred.
Report Post »thibx
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 1:42pmohio judges it is time to stand up for the military. my son served 3 tours and i know how they feel about their vote. thank you pa.
Report Post »blackyb
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 1:40pmIf these people can afford attorneys and the attorneys can afford to represent them for free, it would be sensible to me to take some of that money and buy the whole country voter IDs. This is nothing but a crock of manure so the left can steal the vote and take this country into such a state as she will never recover. Get the ID or stay at home. All thse people are playing on sympathy for the poor when they are wanting to fix the election. It is nothing but wrong and they know it. Voters should prove who they are for we are having a problem with people voting who are not eligible. That is one way they can cheat. It is time to use common sense.
Report Post »pap pap
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 1:39pmWhy do these polling places look like a bunch of people at urinals ? Can’t figure how the women are using them.
Report Post »Caballosinnombre
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 1:39pmIf the left are so concerned about the elderly or handicapped not having ID, why are they playing the race card? Or why don’t they help the elderly or handicapped get ID? This is what the left does, mixes a little truth with their lies and expects you to believe them. Its the same ole guilt trip trap they try time and again.
Report Post »pap pap
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 1:38pmDemoRATS who are against the voter ID laws do this because it curbs their cheating. Why else would you oppose this law ?
Report Post »Landon410
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 1:37pm“to have it taken away like this”
hey ya old fart, no one is taking anyone’s right to vote away…..
Report Post »gosh you ******** are dumb
its really pretty funny that libs are against voter id laws, but when their leaders gives speeches at things like the NAACP convention to say they disagree with voter ID laws, that they force people to show government ID to get into said speech at convention
blackyb
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 1:44pmThey are just playing their lying leftist games here and using an old woman to help them appear disenfranchised. They are low.
Report Post »gbfreak
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 1:37pmThis issue has been ruled on and upheld so many times. They shouldn’t even be hearing this case anymore. Leave it to the socialists to waste our tax $$$ on Sh** like this!
Report Post »blackyb
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 1:47pmThey are trying to overwhelm and tie up the courts so they will tire people out and they can get what they are after. They want to call the shots from a dictatorial socialist stance. This should be prevented and all these unnecessary law suits should be see to be what they are and that is frivilous.
Report Post »cookcountypatriot
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 1:35pmexcellent…if certain people cant figure out how to get an id…well then lets just sat you shouldnt vote anyway…if they are to poor…use the same id you used when you got your welfare…if you dont have a legal id in this country…get one…if your to lazy to do thay…tough virus infected toenails
Report Post »ScottYaw
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 1:29pmLook at the people who are complaining the loudest – they are the ones who plan to cheat. All liberal democrats, all Obama supporters and boarder line criminals.
Report Post »jackact
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 1:29pmGod Bless the…….SWING STATE of Pennsylvania.
Report Post »Chalk up this election tally for Romney/Ryan as a result!
What say you, Ohio and Florida?
Nice try Holder.
:)
Diane TX
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 1:26pm“Too many people have fought for the right to vote to have it taken away like this,” Applewhite said, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. “All I want is to be able to vote this November like I always have. This law is just ridiculous.”
—————————————————————————————
Exactly how is her “right to vote” being taken away? Since she is 93 years old, I presume that she had to present some kind government issued ID sometime in her long life.
If she applied for Social Security, she had to prove that she was a US citizen.
Report Post »blackyb
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 1:34pmThese people are liars. They can produce ID. The state is even willing to give it to them. That judge is right. There may never be another chance to keep an election from being stolen if this is not in effect this election, for America is fighting to keep her freedom.
Report Post »bdandsl
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 1:25pmIs common sense on the rise? I sure hope so.
Report Post »BloodSweatandTears
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 1:19pmNow if only this holds until the election…..the tide can turn.
Report Post »QuincySmith
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 1:45pmYes, the tide can turn; however time is running out for tide turning and for oblama.
Report Post »Detroit paperboy
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 1:19pmLast month the criminal racist Eric holder said 25 % of blacks don’t have I.D………if they required it for welfare and foodstamps I bet they would get it………….
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 1:27pmDid you hear what Obama is suing for in Ohio? He wants to reduce the amount of time the members of the military have to vote. I kid you not.
Report Post »BloodSweatandTears
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 1:39pmDon’t have ID? Prove it! The doles say differently…..
Report Post »blackyb
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 1:48pmIf they got these services, looks to me like they would have to prove who they are and that they are not double dipping, etc.
Report Post »IMCHRISTIAN
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 1:17pmGood for the judge. Anyone that wants to vote and can’t find a way can call a church and I am sure they or other organization would be glad to find them a way. If home bound they could call the officials and make arrangements to get ID’s the legal way. Where there is a will there is a way. If one wants to do evil that will be between whoever it is and God.
Report Post »chips1
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 1:17pmWhere in the world did they find an American Judge? It’s as rare as a unicorn.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 1:15pmScore one for common sense. I have yet to hear a valid arguement against voter ID laws.
Report Post »4truth2all
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 1:49pmYou NEVER will …
Report Post »Welcome Black Carter
Posted on August 15, 2012 at 10:23pmCommon sense? Like Holder making an issue out of Concealed carry Licenses qualifying for a voter ID and a student ID not qualifying. Let’s see, CCW permit, the one where you are finger printed and pass a FBI check? That should not be more valuable than a student ID where you only have to attend school… last I heard you can be an illegal alien – go to school. No problem! As an added bonus here in Texas, illegals only have to pay in-state tuition. There is just not a whole lot of common sense in this entire situation. Holder is an embarrassment. Democrats should be suicidal…
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