Strict voter ID law passes in battleground Pennsylvania

Ethan Miller/Getty Images

(CBS News) NEW YORK - In an election year rush pushed primarily by Republicans, Pennsylvania has become the 16th state to adopt a strict voter photo ID law and the ninth state to do so in the past year.

The law requires voters to produce a Pennsylvania driver's license or another government-issued photo IphilD, such as a U.S. passport, military ID, or county/municipal employee ID. The state will also accept college ID or personal care home IDs, as long as they are current and include an expiration date.

"I am signing this bill because it protects a sacred principle, one shared by every citizen of this nation. That principle is: one person, one vote,'' said Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett said at a signing ceremony in Harrisburg yesterday. "It sets a simple and clear standard to protect the integrity of our elections.''

Corbett is a Republican governor with Republican-led state legislature, just like six of the other eight states with new photo ID laws - Alabama, Kansas, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Wisconsin.

Mississippi, a very Republican-leaning state with a Republican governor and legislature, opted for a referendum, which passed last November, while Rhode Island, which also passed a new ID law, has a Republican-turned-Independent Governor (Lincoln Chafee) and a Democratic-controlled legislature.

The mainly Republican sponsors of these laws contend the measures will prevent voter impersonation fraud, although sponsors in every state are hard-pressed to provide examples of very rarely prosecuted crime.

Supporters of South Carolina's new voter photo ID law recently pointed to data suggesting ballots had been cast in the names of dead people more than 950 times, however, an investigation by the state election commission found no proof of fraud and only clerical errors.

When "CBS Evening News" researchers asked the Administrative Office of the Pennsylvania Courts today how many people had been convicted of voter impersonation or voter fraud in the past five years, the answer was zero.

Opponents contend these laws are actually an attempt to suppress turnout among college students, minorities, and the poor -- Democratic-leaning groups that happen to be the most likely not to possess the ID's or to have the greatest hardship obtaining them.

Pennsylvania Governor Corbett said any voters who do not have an acceptable form of photo ID would be to get one, free of charge, at any Pennsylvania Department of Transportation driver license center, provided they have the necessary documents, such as a birth certificate.

Underscoring the national partisan divide on this issue, all five governors who vetoed voter photo ID laws in 2011 - in Minnesota (Mark Dayton), Missouri (Jay Nixon), Montana (Brian Schweitzer), New Hampshire (Jonathan Lynch), and North Carolina (Bev Perdue) - were Democrats facing down Republican-led legislatures.

Pennsylvania's law will not be in effect for the state's presidential primary next month but will be in effect in November, when Pennsylvania's 20 electoral votes are at stake. At a minimum, nine states with 91 electoral votes, or one-third of the 270 needed to win the presidency will be affected, most significantly, Florida, with 29 electoral votes.

The Brennan Center for Justice considers the photo ID laws, along with new laws limiting early voting and voter registration, restrictive and wrong.

"These laws represent the most significant cutback in voting rights in decades," said Wendy Weiser, director of the Brennan Center's Democracy Program, and co-author of a 2011 report on the laws.  

"Rather than erecting senseless barriers to voting, we should make our voting system work for all Americans by upgrading our ramshackle voter registration system."

Before Pennsylvania, 15 states had adopted voter photo ID laws, according to a tally by the National Conference of State Legislatures.

The nine states where the photo ID laws are in effect are Kansas and Tennessee (among the newcomers), plus Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, and South Dakota, according to NCSL. The Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of these laws in its 6-3 decision in a 2008 case over Indiana's law - Crawford v. Marion County Election Board.

However, the Justice Department is already challenging the laws in two states using its powers under the 1965 Voting Rights Act to review changes to voting laws in states with a history of racial discrimination.

This week the Justice Department blocked Texas's ID law, citing a discriminatory effect on Hispanic voters.

In December, the department blocked South Carolina's law, citing a discriminatory effect on black voters. Both states are suing DOJ.

Alabama and Rhode Island's laws do not take effect until 2014. Alabama is required to obtain DOJ approval, as will Mississippi - once it adopts legislation to implement the law - and Virginia, whose governor is expected to sign a recently passed voter ID law.

A Wisconsin state judge this week declared the voter photo ID law passed by its state legislature last year unconstitutional; the state is appealing.

Most of the new voter photo ID laws are what the NCSL calls "strict," meaning if a registered voter lacks an acceptable, government-issued photo ID, he or she cannot vote on Election Day. Instead, that voter may cast a provisional ballot that would counted only the voter subsequently proves his or her identity to voting officials in person with a photo ID within days.

Sixteen states require voters to produce a non-photo form of ID before voting.

[2k05gt]

What about the 7 people from Acorn convicted of voter fraud in
- Ashley L. Clarke: registration buying and voter impersonation (2009)
- Alexis Givner: voter impersonation (2009)
- Mario Grisom: vote fraud (2009)
- Eric Lee Jones: vote fraud (2009)
- Eric Eugene Jordan: vote buying (2009)
- Latasha Leann Kinney: voter impersonation (2009)
- Bryan Williams: vote fraud (2009)

[quillerm]

The Obama Just-Us Departments stance against valid photo IDs helps democrats steal close elections through voter fraud and tampering at the Polls. In Wisconsin Photo IDs are free, yet the Obama Just-Us Dept ruled it Unconstitutional. Democrats have stated that Voter Fraud is not a big issue. Leftist Judges in Wisconsin have ruled against any reviews of Petitions and Absentee Ballots to determine if fraud was prevalent. How convenient for Union Bosses and the White House.

[AcePumpkin]

Implementing voter ID laws will cost the enacting state millions, so that's... how many $x,000,000 for each proven case? Republicans: in favor of big spending for miniscule to no return, as usual.

So Republicans couldn't come up with any more than 10 (I'm being generous (I think Breitbart claimed to have 30-ish (out of *how* many millions of voters?) but most were duplicates or not actually "voter fraud" so we're talking *at most* 10)) or so concrete examples from the *entire country*, and quillerm, you still think what you think? "Democrats have stated that Voter Fraud is not a big issue."
Yeah, well, I won't believe in a governmental problem that doesn't exist, and certainly not in a problem that Republicans have never come close to showing exists, and I will never apologize for that. Why should I?

[footsoilder]

@Founders-1791; Incorrect-not everyone drives a car especially senior citizens (70 up) who haven't driven for years or don't travel by plane, visit welfare office, buy a car or car insurance, etc.- no longer needed photo ID. How easy for them- seniors to put their hands on an official document like a birth certificate in time to apply for photo ID by general election or maybe get a ride to nearest photo ID center (any volunteers). How customer friendly are photo ID centers to seniors? Some have voted for decades and now may not be able to do so if they aren't able to comply with new law in time for the general election. Finally, I find it very interesting that no photo ID has been needed for the GOP primaries but is for upcoming general election. How odd! I truly believe that people are very much aware of what the GOP is doing in the name of legality-sounds like what I lived through over decades ago-"Jim Crow" and thoose were laws passed and made legal.

[TheRealKingMax]

Modern GOP/Tea Party: Enemy of Democracy

[DeclarationOfIndependence]

No. Enemy of Socialism, Communism, and for our Founding Documents, Constitution, Amendments, Bill of Rights, etc. There is no longer a Democrat party. GOP is getting goofy, thinking they can choose Pres like Willard aka Mitt. No boys, we won't do that. We are AMERICANS and we WILL fight for our REPUBLIC. Democracy is what happens when our Republic works right.

[nottellin1]

Watch as the Obama administration gets more and more frantic when these laws are not reversed by DOJ and Obama sees his chance of illegal election goes down the drain.

[ktappe--2008]

Do conservatives like you ever provide proof for ANY of your claims? Of course not, since you never have any. As the article says, evidence of voter fraud is almost non-existent. That means these new laws are nothing more than voter intimidation. GOP lies.

[DeclarationOfIndependence]

@ktappe-2008 look around you and if you are an American you will know what is happening. Not good enough that fraud is "almost" non-existent. That means there is voter fraud, enough to cause necessity for IDs to be shown at voting check-in. Yeah, GOP, Bush & his neocon supporters and Democrats and Clinton and O and their neocon supporters (YES neocon) are all greedy power hungry liars and no real Americans among them. What about you? Do you want fraud committed in our elections? If you do, if you protect and support it, buddy you aren't an American. Stop thinking party like football teams, we win or they win, start thinking in terms of us... you and Americans.

[reality_sanity]

by reality_sanity March 16, 2012 3:24 PM EDT
by Founders-1791 March 16, 2012 3:12 PM EDT
You can't do ANYTHING in our country of importance without Photo ID.

----

You can get an absentee ballot in most, if not all, states and vote without a Photo ID.

[reality_sanity]

by Founders-1791 March 16, 2012 3:12 PM EDT
You can't do ANYTHING in our country of importance without Photo ID.

... Enter a secure federal building, ...

--- The Real ID act requires a Passport or a Real ID to enter a federal building. Texas is years away from issuing Real ID's and Passports are not valid for voting in Texas. How many IDs does / should one person need

[Wayfer]

The republicans have played every card in their hand. If it does not work this election it will have been their best shot and they will crash and burn. It's not looking that great for them so maybe they will be in the minority for a great while this time around. Sixty or eighty years sounds much better than the forty of the past.

[reality_sanity]

Repuiblicans are the ones cheating -- electing perpetrators of voting fraud to run an entire state's election process.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57371606/ind-election-chief-found-guilty-of-voter-fraud/

[rightontarget]

Normally I really can't stand the things the the current Republican Party seems to stand for (and I used to belong to that party before they tuned into fanatics) BUT in THIS case I totally support the idea of having to produce credible identification. The Feds need to GET OFF THE ILLEGAL BANDWAGON!! Since when do we consider legal immigration and ILLEGAL immigration to be the same thing???? IT'S NOT!!!!! I think proper identification and proof of legal residency should be required not only to vote but in order to register in any United States school and in order to rent or purchase property.

[reality_sanity]

Most Photo ID laws fail to address adequately all of your concerns. No state I know of has a drivers license that identifies the citizenship of the person on the license (a very few states have issued said licenses for a few years but not long enough that they are universal in the state) In my state licenses with Citizenship (Real ID) are optional and significantly more expensive. Generally only a passport in this country Proves citizenship (and passports are not valid voter ID in Texas and Texas is years away from issuing Real ID licenses with Citizenship identified. Residency is only proven if the Photo ID is up to date which is also not required in all states. Some accepted Photo ID in the various states prove neither citizenship or residency. Even with Photo ID Absentee voters are not required to present a Photo ID to get a ballot. The only protection against illegals is in the validation process performed by the board of elections. The 14th Amendment allows all persons (citizens or not legal or not according to the courts) the rights to due process and equal protection under the law. No majority will support a FEDERAL ID card (even most Tea Partiers would object). And it takes a constitutional amendment to strip any PERSON in this country from their rights to due process and equal protection under the law.

[ktappe--2008]

If you'd read the article, you'd learn there is nearly zero evidence of voter fraud. So this law is literally solving a non-problem. But I suppose your xenophobic bias won't let you see the truth.

[DebbieCorona]

I was a Republican for 35 years. That's a long time. I have been an Independent for 2 years now. I vote center right. What I am seeing in the GOP is continued and deliberative moves farther and farther and farther right. Voter ID today and GOP tats on your forehead tomorrow with women either not allowed to vote or in burkas. It begins one step at a time. Cautious and center right is one thing, moving farther and farther right takes us from a representational democratic republic to a theocratic monied plutocracy.

[reality_sanity]

PS my state has WEB applications for unemployment and welfare with a phone followup interview. There is no opportunity for the a state employee to check my Photo ID in those processes.