In Pennsylvania, voter ID law faces last crucial challenge before Election Day

A sign at the entrance of a polling station in East Greenwich, R.I., advises voters that identification is required, Tuesday, April 24, 2012. Officials say they're seeing only a trickle of voters in Rhode Island as the state holds its presidential primary. Polling supervisors are seen at a table, behind, as a voter, right, enters the polling place. / AP Photo/Steven Senne

(CBS News) Pennsylvania's controversial voter ID law faces its last court test before November's election on Thursday, as the state Supreme Court begins hearing arguments over whether or not voters in the state should be required to present valid photo identification at the voting booth.

The lawsuit, brought by the Advancement Project and the American Civil Liberties Union, challenges the lower Commonwealth Court's ruling last month, which determined the new voter ID law could stand for the upcoming election less than two months from now.

"There are hundreds of thousands of voters in Pennsylvania who may be denied the right to vote... and are finding it impossible to get proper ID," Penda Hair, co-director of the Advancement Project, said of the appeal.

In a friend of the court brief submitted to the court in defense of the law, the conservative group Judicial Watch wrote, "[The Pennsylvania General Assembly] has not caused anyone to be disenfranchised. Nor has it changed the qualifications set forth in the Pennsylvania Constitution. Rather it has maintained and promoted free and equal elections."

The lower court rejected the initial challenger's argument, deciding that the law does not place an undue burden on voters.

"I am not convinced any qualified elector need be disenfranchised," Judge Robert Simpson wrote in his August 15 decision. He added, "based on the availability of absentee voting, provisional ballots and opportunities for judicial relief for those with special relief for those with special hardships, I am not convinced... [Pennsylvanians] will not have their votes counted."

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The issue became embroiled in legal and political battles after the Pennsylvania legislature approved the measure without Democratic support and after Governor Tom Corbett signed it into law in March.

Opponents say the law disenfranchises voters, especially minority and elderly voters, who are less likely to possess state-issued photo identification. Proponents of the law say photo identification is a necessary measure to prevent voter fraud.

As opponents challenge the law in court, Democrats have questioned the political motivations driving it and other similar laws across the country. The Pennsylvania legislation came under particular scrutiny in June after Republican Mike Turzai, Pennsylvania's House Majority Leader, suggested that it aimed to benefit Mitt Romney's electoral prospects this November, telling fellow Republicans at a State committee meeting that it would "allow Governor Romney to win the state of Pennsylvania."

The state of Pennsylvania estimated that 758,000 people lack necessary identification to vote. The state-issued ID must include a photograph and expiration date. To obtain an ID, a citizen must present a social security card, birth certificate or proof of citizenship, and two bills with a current address. People, including the homeless, without two bills in their name can obtain an ID if they bring with them a person who can verify his or her residence or shelter.

As of September 10, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and Secretary of State's office has issued 7,800 voter IDs, according the Secretary of State's office.

With 55 days remaining until Election Day, opponents of the law say that is far too few from the hundreds of thousands who lack proper ID.

The state of Pennsylvania has already begun a large voter outreach effort to inform voters of the new ID requirement. Spokesperson Mathew Keeler said the state has been notifying voters through mailings, phone calls and television advertisements.

The outreach efforts are costing about $5 million dollars, according to Keeler, and the state is using federal funds allocated under the Help American Vote Act to pay for it.

"Despite all those efforts, the state's projection is that they will issue a few thousand ID's. Even they don't believe they're going to be successful," Walczak said.

Pennsylvania is one of seventeen states to adopt a photo ID laws, but five states have been unable to enact them due to legal challenges or denial by the Justice Department. 

[Yes_ABWH_Fan]

Many college students are finding that their student ID cannot be used as ID if it lacks either an expiration date and photo.
So, if you are a cash-strapped student without your original birth certificate, and have never driven (e.g. from NYC), and have no money for the State-Issued Birth Certificate + Notary fees, how are you supposed to vote?

[barneyMcdildapudding]

Stop making excuses and get your act together. Take a loan out to get the ID your gonna need it anyways to become a productive member of society. I hope you make bazillions of dollars, I need the money to pay for my entitlements now get hoppin.

[Yes_ABWH_Fan]

ANY voting law which causes prior voters to spend money to continue to vote (other than transport) is a Poll Tax.
Many DOT stations where the ID is obtainable are attempting to charge $13 for the ID.
You must pay to get a Pa State-issued copy of your Birth Certificate notarized, due to the "embossed seal" requirement.
The average wait time at DOT for the ID is running 2-5 hours, which for many costs MONEY.
Poll Taxes are ILLEGAL!

[TimeToEvoIve]

Actually it's fairly easy to register to vote under different pseudonyms. Mostly elderly people man the voting area since it is volunteer work. Some aren't particularly careful in observing, so you could vote multiple times. I don't see how voter ID's would be scrutinized any differntly than the current process.

[Yes_ABWH_Fan]

Were any of you aware that not even a Pa State-issued COPY of your Birth Certificate is good enough as ID?
It must be THE ORIGINAL, with an EMBOSSED SEAL!
So what happens if that one disappeared, somewhere in your life?

[msimamaji]

Josef Stalin once said that you could hold all the elections you wanted, just as long as he got to count the votes.

The Republicans are taking their cue from Stalin. They are all for holding elections - as long as they get to cherry pick the voters.

The GOP is posing a serious threat for democracy - Even the lead article in the British magazine the Economist has pointed that out.
And remember, Jim Kramer's father is being denied the right to vote. So with the GOP in charge, no one's voting rights are safe.

If we want to save our Constitution, if we want to save our democracy, we must re-hire President Obama and fire the entire GOP.

[tryhonesty]

RepubliCONs can not win an election with honesty. Funny how our election laws have been under attack by the Greedy OLD Party TEABAGS when they can not win on the issues. Billionaires are not going to buy this election and destroy our country with their greed and selfishness.

[FP1970]

Obama and the Mexican gov't will be holding their breath. They so need
to have a situation where illegals can vote in U.S. elections without fear.
I wonder if Americans will ever be able to wander into Mexico and vote
in Mexican elections?

[harv823]

Pennsylvania has a Republican Governor. Those ruling on this today will be a Republican majority. Other states have voted down these extreme laws that only exist to disallow folks from voting. If this Voter ID law is upheld by this Republican Majority, then everyone should vote for President Obama's reelection and vote out Governor Corbett. THERE IS NO PROOF OF VOTER FRAUD IN PENNSYLVANIA.

[Yes_ABWH_Fan]

There are PLENTY of OTHER REASONS to vote our Corbett as well...including the destruction of its largest university...

[endrepubs]

Why change the voter laws now after so many decades of status quo? It is clearly an attempt by conservatives to suppress the vote. Did only 10 actual cases of voter fraud really prompt this? Only 10 cases of proven voter fraud, and the conservatives are trying to suppress hundreds of thousands of votes. The GOP can only win when they suppress the vote and they know this fact. They don't want a real democracy. In fact a true democracy scares them to death.

[Patsfan2012]

This is not meant to be disrespectful...do you honestly believe that if a person is asked to confirm with ID he or she is who they say are the vote is being supressed? I am at a loss how no one complains when you need to have an ID to fly, buy antihistamines or go to a rated R movie. But it becomes a hardship to procure an ID when it comes to voting? I think real democracy as you put it would be done a great service by people proving that they are actually who they say they are!

[rjIII]

I just can't understand this. What is it about putting in place a rule that insures a single vote from a single eligible voter that sticks in someone's craw? The idea that doing so will in some way disbar an eligible voter is complete nonsense. The only folks who will not be able to vote will be those who shouldn't be allowed to, the dead and folks that are so sloppy lazy that they can't muster up a request to the dozens of agencies that will be there in an instant to take them for a ride to the pols. How can there be any possible argument to that?