Posted on 07/18/2012 6:56:27 PM PDT by Kaslin
David G. Savage of the Los Angeles Times posted an absurd piece today concerning Pennsylvania’s new voter ID law, a measure he complains is "strict" and denies residents the fundamental right to vote.
To service this narrative, Savage turned to elderly Philadelphia Democrat Viviette Applewhite, who cast “her first vote [was] for President Franklin D. Roosevelt.”* and is suing the Commonwealth over its new voter ID law. At no point in his story, however, did he mention Ms. Applewhite may be eligible to vote by absentee ballot.
"[T]he outcome of the lawsuit could affect not just the voting rights of several hundred thousand Pennsylvanians but also who wins the presidential election,” Savage melodramatically insists. Applewhite’s “ record of faithfully voting for Democrats will be more difficult to maintain, thanks to a strict voter identification law adopted this year by Pennsylvania's Republican-controlled Legislature,” he added.
Applewhite is among more than 186,000 registered voters who lack a valid driver's license in this heavily Democratic city. Many of them are minorities. And to vote in Pennsylvania in November, they will need to produce a government-issued ID or driver's license. That could have national implications. Obama almost certainly needs to win in Pennsylvania to be reelected, and political analysts say the Democrat cannot win the state without piling up large margins in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, the two cities where the new voter ID rule would hit the hardest.
Seeking to prove that voter ID is just a partisan conspiracy, Savage quotes State House Majority Leader Mike Turzai saying "Voter ID, which is going to allow Gov. Romney to win the state of Pennsylvania: Done," to justify this claim. However, by not allowing non-citizens, dead people, and other forms of tampering to persist, yes it allows Romney, or any candidate, to plausibly win the state untainted by voter fraud.
The most egregious part of the column is Mr. Savage's claim that Applewhite has a raft of IDs, but none of them good enough for the state for voting purposes:
Applewhite... has a thick wad of ide
ntification cards, including from Medicare and her bank and a voter registration card. She has a city transit pass with her photo, but it is not deemed acceptable under the law. After many inquiries, she obtained a copy of her birth certificate through the mail. But she was then told she had a problem because her name on the birth certificate did not match her married name on her other ID cards.
Of course, if Ms. Applewhite can’t get an ID by election day, she will not be turned away from the ballot box. From the Keystone State’s Department of State website
NO ONE legally entitled to vote will be denied the right to do so. If you do not have a photo ID, or are indigent and unable to obtain one without payment of a fee, you may cast a provisional ballot, and will have six days to provide your photo ID and/or an affirmation to your county elections office to have your ballot count. If you have a religious objection to being photographed you can still vote by presenting a valid without-photo driver’s license or a valid without-photo ID card issued by PennDOT.
What’s more, a quick visit to the Pennsylvania Department of State’s website shows that Ms. Applewhite may be eligible to cast a vote by absentee ballot, if she plans on being out of town for election day or if she is too ill to go to the polls.
Indeed, to vote absentee, a longtime voter like Applewhite need only provide the “last 4 digits of Social Security Number” to her local election board and “may provide [the] identifying number to [the] county over the phone, by email or mail.”
*Other sources on the Web, including the ACLU’s website, have Applewhite saying she first voted for John F. Kennedy.
FWIW, the PA Voter ID act requires that voters using absentee ballot submit their PA Driver's License number (or PA DMV Identification Card #) with either the application for absentee ballot or the ballot itself.
Bought my son a birthday gift at Target the other day. It’s a video game with a Mature rating. I had to show my drivers license to prove I was over 18. I am quite obviously an adult. Presumably, if I did not have a photo ID to prove my age Target would not have allowed me to purchase the game.
This country has gone mad. If I have to show ID to buy a game and cough syrup then we sure as heck can show ID to vote.
I wonder why the Cauliphonya potheads are worried about Pennsylvania voters. They must think the people in Pennsylvania are too stupid to complain for themselves and prefer to let the California commie libs complain for them.
Its obvious why the LA Times would be campaining to abolish ID’s. Look at their target market.
I just learned something very interesting! I was talking to someone involved in passing out the Obama phones and, according to him, one of the requirements for receiving one is showing a valid photo ID.
This article is part of the dem plan to convince commander zero's "troops" that the election was stolen and it is their duty to mau mau and right the wrong. Just as he instructed raila odinga to do after he lost the Kenyan election.
PA Ping!
If you want on/off the PA Ping List, please freepmail me. Thanks!
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There is a fee of $13.50. But if this law is passed, I'm sure there will be a waiver of the fee for those who can't afford it or some program that will pay the fee. This state is heavily Democrat, so of course, the poor will be taken care of.
A fee is a poll tax, pure and simple...and unconstitutional.
The PA law specifically allows those who claim indigence to obtain an ID at no cost.
Why would we expect the LA Times to feel any differently?
In the photo, Applewhite appearsto be very nicely dressed. How does she manage that if she is 1.indigent or 2. unable to drive? How does she go out shopping?
If she lives on Social Security, how does she withdraw cash from the bank without an ID currently?
There is much here that does not pass the smell test.
Umm, because we expect more of journalists than of everyday Occupy idiots...
In most cases there is no difference, except one uses a brick.
Do you all remember the stories from a few years ago that if we allowed the world to vote, John Kerry would be president in a landslide?
This is the liberal mentality. Everyone should be able to vote in any election, anywhere.
Don’t know if you’re talking about PA but we presently have a Republican governor and a Republican majority in Congress.
One may wonder how many Security Guards and ID checkpoints one has to go through to get into the ‘writers’ work space?
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