Pennsylvania Supreme Court Hears Challenge to Voter ID Law
With the November election drawing near, challenges to recent voter ID laws that popped up around the nation after the 2010 midterm elections are heating up. Today, it’s Pennsylvania’s turn.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court will hear arguments today over the state’s very controversial voter ID law, which was passed in March, and the court must decide whether a lower court was correct in allowing the law to take effect before the elections.
Opponents of the law say it could disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of poor and elderly voters who don’t have the needed government-issued identification. Last month, state officials provided a list of over 750,000 registered voters who lacked the two forms of ID acceptable under the law. Opponents also say the law is aimed at keeping college students, minorities and the elderly - groups that typically vote Democratic - from being able to vote.
Pennsylvania lawmakers maintain that they have acted within their authority. Supporters of the law insist ID requirements are necessary to prevent voter fraud and establish confidence in election results. However, back in July, state officials signed a stipulation agreement, conceding that they have no evidence of in-person voter fraud or any reason to believe such crimes would happen more frequently without an ID requirement, nor do they plan to offer any evidence that such fraud would occur in this year’s elections without the law.