One voter left out is one too many
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The fate of Pennsylvania’s voter ID law remains in the hands of Commonwealth Court Judge Bernard McGinley, who is expected to rule by the end of the year whether this misguided measure is constitutional. Until then, enforcement of it has been suspended.
So why are ads cropping up across the commonwealth urging voters to show identification in the upcoming election?
At a cost of $1 million to taxpayers, the campaign started at the end of last month and has featured radio and television spots along with ads online and in newspapers targeted to Hispanic and African American readers. The ads urge voters to “show it” – photo identification – even though it’s not yet required that they do so. A spokesman for Pennsylvania’s Department of State pointed out that even though the law has been put on hold, efforts to educate the public about it were allowed to proceed, and $1 million was already budgeted for that purpose.
However, some Democrats in the state Senate, including Matt Smith, who represents Peters Township and a portion of Allegheny County, have argued that the ads are designed to mislead voters into thinking that they must show identification at the polls Nov. 5 and, if they don’t have it, they’ll decide to stay away.
Smith wrote to Secretary of State Carole Aichele that “a better use of taxpayer dollars would be to educate all Pennsylvanians on how they can obtain a valid photo ID without the implication of a law that is not currently – and may never be – in effect.”
Smith is right. If the law is permanently scratched from the books, the $1 million will have been spent for no good reason.
Though supporters say the voter ID law is designed to combat fraud at the ballot box, there is barely a shred of evidence that it is a problem in Pennsylvania or anywhere else in the country. Having been championed by GOP-dominated statehouses, its real purpose is to keep voters away from the polls who might not be inclined to vote for Republicans.
We’ll let Smith have the last word: “If one individual is under the impression that they will not be permitted to vote without a photo ID and stays home on Nov. 5, that is one person too many.”