Voter photo identification is becoming a huge issue as the 2012 presidential elections approach. A frequent complaint heard from some Democrats is that many voters will become disenfranchised due to the more stringent voting regulations being passed in several states.
Republicans point to close elections as good reason to ensure the integrity of America's electoral processes through electoral reform legislation.
Meanwhile, Monroe-Pike County State Rep. Rosemary Brown voted yesterday with 107 members of the state assembly for a voter photo identification bill meant to maintain the integrity of the state's election systems. If the bill is approved in the Pennsylvania Senate and then signed by Gov. Tom Corbett, it will require that voters present valid photo identification each time they go to the polls.
The bill was opposed by many Democrats who say that it will impact the poor, minorities, and other groups. The vote favoring House Bill 934 was debated and voted upon yesterday, after several amendments were turned back during the week.
Though the vote in favor of the bill was split largely along party lines, Brown feels that ensuring the integrity of the state's elections is not a partisan issue.
Brown referenced the recommendations of the 2005 Commission on Federal Electoral Reform co-chaired by former President Carter and by former Secretary of State James Baker. The Commission report cited examples in which illegal votes determined election outcomes in Wisconsin and the state of Washington in 2004.
With regard to the assertion that photo identification voting would discriminate against certain groups, the committee recommendation was that election officials would develop initiatives to locate voters without suitable IDs and to provide them with IDs free of charge.
Representative Brown pointed out that suitable photo identification was required to board airplanes, cash checks, and enter federal buildings.
As things stand now, seven states have strict photo identification requirements although the election rules governing those states, in some cases, are not yet in effect. The new photo ID rules in those states are expected to be applicable to voting in 2012, and so the new initiatives to validate voter rolls has become a hot political issue.
In addition to those seven states where strict voter identification rules will apply in the presidential elections of 2012, there are seven more states where non-photo-ID voters can vote if they identify themselves through other means. It is the variability of other means that could invite illegal voters to game the system.
Some poll monitors allow identification with such documentation as utility bills or bank statements which can be manipulated by those so disposed. Others allow provisional voting if the voter provides acceptable documentation within 48 hours of the provisional vote. The lack of uniformity in validating legitimate voters and weeding out fraudulent ones is one of the reasons voter identification initiatives have become popular.
Requiring acceptable photo identification may ultimately be the least expensive way to curtail vote fraud of all types, even if additional state resources must be spent to assist some voters. Another Washington State voter fraud case wasn't intended to determine the outcome of an election, but rather to line the pockets of the voter registrants.
In 2007, seven paid employees and supervisors of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) were hit with felony charges and fines for attempting to register voters from phone book listings.
Anthony Ventre is a freelance writer who has written for weekly and daily newspapers and several online publications. He is a frequent contributor to Yahoo in news pertaining to Pennsylvania.
