Author Topic: Pennsylvania judge strikes down state's voter ID law  (Read 566 times)

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Offline happyg

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Pennsylvania judge strikes down state's voter ID law
« on: January 17, 2014, 10:55:12 pm »
By Karen Langley / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette


HARRISBURG -- A Pennsylvania judge has found the state's voter ID law unconstitutional.

According to the ruling from Commonwealth Court Judge Bernard McGinley, the requirement to present an acceptable form of identification when voting in person "unreasonably burdens the right to vote."

The requirement was challenged in court after Republican legislators passed it and Gov. Tom Corbett signed it into law by in March 2012.

A group of state Senate Democrats hailed the ruling as a victory for fair elections and said they hoped the Corbett administration would not fight the decision through appeals.

"They've gone beyond where they already should have gone on this in terms of using resources," said Senate Minority Leader Jay Costa, D-Forest Hills. "They shouldn't spend another penny on this."

The costs to defend the law in court as well as the state's expenditures on posters and ads to explain the law -- even when it wasn't in effect -- have been a frequent complaint of Democrats.

Other opponents of the law were also pleased.

Witold Walczak, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania and one of the lead attorneys for the challengers, wrote in an email: "Once the Commonwealth admitted they couldn't identify any of the fraud supposedly prevented by the voter ID law, the act was plainly revealed to be nothing more than a voter suppression tool."

Republicans saw it differently. In a post on Twitter, Senate President Pro Tem Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson, said the judge had disregarded U.S. Supreme Court precedent “in throwing out common sense voter ID law supported by a vast majority of Pennsylvanians.”

In 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Indiana’s voter ID law, rejecting claims it was too burdensome.

State GOP Chairman Rob Gleason agreed.

"The overwhelming majority of Pennsylvanians support a way to protect their right to vote and combat voter fraud," he said in a statement. "While I am extremely disappointed with today's decision, the Republican Party of Pennsylvania will continue to serve as a leading advocate for policies that ensure a fair right to vote for all Pennsylvanians."

The Corbett administration declined to say whether it will appeal the ruling.

“Today, the Commonwealth Court issued a permanent injunction to the implementation of the voter identification law passed by the General Assembly in 2012," the governor's general counsel, James Schultz, said in a statement. "We continue to evaluate the opinion and will shortly determine whether post-trial motions are appropriate.”

The House Democratic leader, Frank Dermody of Oakmont, said the state should cease efforts to enforce the law, which his members have argued was designed to suppress voting.

“It’s the right decision,” he said. “It vindicates what we’ve been saying all along, that it was unconstitutional, that it was a solution in search of a problem.”

In his ruling, Judge McGinley wrote that the law poses "a substantial threat" to hundreds of thousands of qualified voters.

"Voting laws are designed to assure a free and fair election; the Voter ID Law does not further this goal," the decision reads.

Pennsylvania had moved to make acceptable identification more easily available, but the law's challengers argued this was not enough.


Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/news/state/2014/01/17/AP-Pennsylvania-judge-strikes-down-state-s-voter-ID-law/stories/201401170131#ixzz2qhPkTpEl

Oceander

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Re: Pennsylvania judge strikes down state's voter ID law
« Reply #1 on: January 17, 2014, 11:13:50 pm »
I really don't understand the opposition to voter ID, other than because the opponents wish to engage in election fraud.  And democrats cannot hide behind the fixation that they're just trying to help everyone - if you don't have your Obamacare card, you'll have to pay your doctor full freight, even if you've paid for the policy.  If you have to show ID in order to avoid having to pay the doctor in full, then why shouldn't you be required to show ID in order to vote?

The solution, of course, is to issue an ID to everyone without them having to do anything to get it: file a state tax return as a resident, then you get sent an ID card that ties you to a particular registration.  If you file an unemployment claim and you do not have an ID, you get issued an ID along with your unemployment compensation.  If you register for Medicaid, you get an ID.  If you ....  See where I'm going with this?  When everyone has an ID, then no one has an excuse for trying to vote without showing ID.
« Last Edit: January 17, 2014, 11:16:37 pm by Oceander »

Offline happyg

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Re: Pennsylvania judge strikes down state's voter ID law
« Reply #2 on: January 17, 2014, 11:30:52 pm »
Quote
"Voting laws are designed to assure a free and fair election; the Voter ID Law does not further this goal," the decision reads.

Because voter ID doesn't make it easier doesn't mean it makes it harder. The judge ruled on his opinion, rather than law.

Offline Right_in_Virginia

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Re: Pennsylvania judge strikes down state's voter ID law
« Reply #3 on: January 17, 2014, 11:49:56 pm »
Quote
According to the ruling from Commonwealth Court Judge Bernard McGinley, the requirement to present an acceptable form of identification when voting in person "unreasonably burdens the right to vote." 

Yeah... like when you cash a check or open an account.

What a crock.

This reasoning and decision are pure   :bs:

Offline Atomic Cow

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Re: Pennsylvania judge strikes down state's voter ID law
« Reply #4 on: January 18, 2014, 12:00:33 am »
Liberals will always shop around until they find a judge who agrees to rule in their favor ahead of time.
"...And these atomic bombs which science burst upon the world that night were strange, even to the men who used them."  H. G. Wells, The World Set Free, 1914

"The one pervading evil of democracy is the tyranny of the majority, or rather of that party, not always the majority, that succeeds, by force or fraud, in carrying elections." -Lord Acton