Roy Martin. I hope you are happy they aren't from philly, you jerk-off!

It’s funny how these leftists seem to add comments to honest posts and place their twisted beliefs or what they are doing at the time (J-off), Losers. Speaking of J-off, Fa Fa sounds like some sort of relieve to me? Just sayin.

No way. Breaking news is a serious title that should really be reserved for news about deaths, earthquakes, floods, terrorist attacks, public emergencies, etc. Here, it is just being used as a marketing gimmick to grab our attention. It's an example of digital yellow journalism, actually.

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/entertainment/2012/08/actually-worst-word-planet-actually/55360/

George, that article is actually incorrect. The worst word on the planet is actually 'bootylicious'.

You must be one of those people who thinks Comic Sans is a nice font.

No, I don't like Comic Sans, but the way peolpe use the word "actually" has been bugging me for a year or two. It's everywhere. It leaves a terrible taste when I hear it. It used similarly to the word, "like." I don't think people are always conscious of how or when it is being used. The article does a good job of summing up my feelings about it. I do like the word, "bootylicious," but I'm happy agreeing to disagree if you're OK with that, too.

Wallst, check out the AP report below. Despite the facts democrats continue to claim voting fraud is non-existent.
A Democratic congressional candidate from Maryland has dropped out of the race after the state party said she had voted in both Maryland and Florida in the 2006 general election and in the 2008 presidential primaries.

Wendy Rosen confirmed to The Associated Press that she was withdrawing from the 1st District congressional race. She did not elaborate beyond a statement citing "personal issues."

The 57-year-old Miami native lives in Cockeysville, Md. She was running against first-term Republican congressman Andy Harris.

A spokesman for the Maryland Democratic Party, Matthew Verghese, says party officials learned Friday night of Rosen's voting record.

State officials say it's too late to take Rosen's name off the ballot. She won her primary race in April by a margin of less than 1 percentage point.

Wake up, you're a real fool....
Here's an article that lists some of the irregularities that were discovered by the elections commissioner that shows fraud by BOTH sides!!http://articles.philly.com/2012-07-20/news/32747884_1_election-officials-voter-impersonation-new-voter-id-law
Lets make sure our elections are CLEAN and every vote is legit, regardless of party. This shouldn't be a partisan issue, but for some reason, the dems are screaming the loudest. Makes me think they have something to lose here....

Yes, yes, jr walker, and here's an article on Forbes website discussing the possibility that Romney voted in MA in 2010 without really living there. He said he was living in his son's basement despite owning homes in CA and NH (but not in MA). The article suggests this may be the reason Romney isn't releasing his returns. If he doesn't list MA as his residence in those returns, he had no business voting there: http://www.forbes.com/sites/brendancoffey/2011/06/15/did-mitt-romney-live-in-his-sons-unfinished-basement-last-year/. We can quibble all we want, but seriously, what's the harm waiting another six months to put this law into action so the 759,000 people the state says don't have the ID can get it? Seriously? You think the amount of fraud comes close to the 759,000 who are registered but don't have ID? Why not give them a chance to get it? Then, everyone can be happy. You will have your voter ID law, and the people voting will have their IDs. What's the rush?

And how many of those fraudulent votes would have been prevented with showing an ID? Almost all of those were failings of the poll workers to check their lists properly, not because someone was misrepresenting themselves. And in the cases where they were misrepresenting their home state, or voting in multiple states, an old, but not expired, driver's license still gets around the Voter ID. It's a poorly conceived fraud prevention measure, one that, at least with the way its been implemented in PA, blatantly disenfranchises more people than it can prevent fraudulent votes.

I'm all for stamping out corruption in the voting process, but this is a terrible way to go about it.

I don't understand why everyone doesn't have and want to have an ID. You need this for numerous things other than voting. Why do these 729,000 people not have ID to begin with. It isn't new that ID is required and it isn't new that the Commonwealth has offered non driver ID for years. Stop crying and go get your ID.

Oh yeah, just let anybody walk in and vote. You bozo Democrats would love that.

The problem with this law is that a photo ID does nothing to validate a person’s identity. I have worked on identity management for many years. If we really wanted to know who a voter was, we would implement a form of two factor/two party authentication. But, this is very expensive and generally reserved for high security locations. If there are any people out there that want to commit voter fraud - this will not stop them. As an analogy, it is no better than putting a sigh on your house that says - burglars are not welcome here - and expect that to deter burglaries.

Stealing the vote! What the hell do you think happened in 08 fool. I suppose you and your comrades have all your deceased family members’ voter registration cards ready?

rw62, In PA, I am saying in PA, because from your comment you either never voted here or are from another state, people have to sign the register and their signature has to match, also birthdates are in there so a 50 yr old can't say they are 90. So if the zombie apocolyse voters votes, that is poll worker fraud/incompetence, not voter fraud. The ID will not fix that. The more you know...

If you know of anyone who is having trouble get ID or has questions about it, have them email me at voterIDhelp@gmail.com. I can help

Cindy, the state says 759,000 people registered to vote do not yet have the ID. How can we issue 759,000 IDs between now and November? What's the harm in waiting a few months to implement this law, thereby giving people more time to get their IDs and the state more time to supply them? Is it really such a big deal to wait a couple of months on this considering the state said in court there is no evidence of in-person voter fraud? What's the rush, really?

Cindy, there are thousands of Philadelphia residents who do not have the proper IDs to vote. In spite of extraordinary efforts by civil rights workers, fewer than 400 photo ID cards have been issued to Philly residents. The only extra hours that the Photo ID centers are open is one evening a week and that is only available to Philly residents. In parts of the state, the photo ID center is only open for a very limited time. There is not enough time for elderly, infirm or low income citizens to get the necessary paper work together and for them to spend the length of time necessary for the processing to be done before election day.

Not everyone can afford to take a day or two off from work to do this and some jobs will not allow time off, under threat of termination. I have occasionally held jobs like that in the past.

This law does not protect anyone's right as US citizens. It actively curtails a Constitutional right, the right to vote. The Commonwealth of PA admitted in court that there had been NO instances of in person voter fraud prosecuted in this state. In fact, the ironic thing is that absentee ballots are far more likely to be abused for the purpose of voter fraud, but the Republicans have avoided touching those, because that would disenfranchise too many Republican voters.

Jane Dougherty
What a waste of time. All this debate. Why would you not want to carry proper ID
You need if for medical emergency, purchase or rent a vehicle, cash a check, sign legal documents, rent an apartment and sign up for social security and or disability benefits Lets get it together and work together

You are missing the point. Photo ID only prevents VOTER IMPERSONATION which the PA Attorney General has stipulated has not been proven to occur in Pennsylvania in at least the past 5 years. Most voter fraud has been perpetrated by election boards, not voters. As a Judge of Elections in Montgomery County, I can assure you we have all the tools we need to be sure the voters who are registered are the ones voting--without this law. Penn Dot and the Post Office have caused more problems by not forwarding registrations or not delivering mail properly than any individuals trying to vote illegally.

George, those numbers were so inflated because the PENNDOT comparison program couldn't handle a number of name-related variables. The estimate is worthless for gauging the law's impact.

@Mike: I haven't seen the data you describe. Is there a website I could research? It sounds interesting. Though, at first blush, I would argue that the numbers are absolutely relevant if I'm understanding you correctly because it's my understanding that no variations in names are allowed under the law. If someone's drivers license name doesn't exactly match the registered name for voting, my understanding is that this person may not be allowed to vote. I could easily be off in my understanding of the law, so any information you could point me to would be appreciated.

Cindy,

The problem with this law is that a photo ID does nothing to validate a person’s identity. I have worked on identity management for many years. If we really wanted to know who a voter was, we would implement a form of two factor/two party authentication. But, this is very expensive and generally reserved for high security locations. If there are any people out there that want to commit voter fraud - this will not stop them. As an analogy, it is no better than putting a sign on your house that says - burglars are not welcome here - and expect that to deter burglaries.

Amen to that!

Except, of course, that the case has just been reopened for revision.

... or to qualify for Affordable Care Act benefits ...

Just to illustrate, the Supreme Court Justices' judicial photo id would allow them to get that check, cash it, go on a plane, buy cold medicine and all the myriad of examples that have been brought up, EXCEPT, it wouldn't be good for voting. The more you know...

Sending it back to the lower court is a perfectly valid decision - it happens all the time. The two democrats wanted to render a decision of placing an injunction on the law - are they the heros in this?

And do these 759,000 have a Voter registration card? They can't unless they had a valid ID--something doesn't add up to me.

Brianne- The mail-in application mentions nothing about a photo ID: http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/http;//www.portal.state.pa.us;80/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS_0_160329_1240055_0_0_18/OnlineVoterRegFormBlank.pdf. Do you not get that there are people who have expired licenses because they are too old to drive? Anyway, the 759,000 is not my number. That number was provided by the state. It's not like I'm making this stuff up. It's in BusinessWeek, for Pete's sake. What you think about an issue isn't important if you won't recognize the same facts that the state's attorneys have used in arguing this case.

Simple, Romney would loose PA

Yeah ... Three PA Supreme Court Justices, several Philly Councilmen, not to mention W.Wilson Goode and his son were all listed as not having proper ID.

If I were opposed to this law, I'd stop using that useless piece of information.

@Mike: I found this article: http://articles.philly.com/2012-07-30/news/32924333_1_penndot-id-new-voter-id-law-voter-rolls. Interesting stuff. Though the number issued by the state is fuzzy, it's the number its attorneys have been using in court. Since there isn't any better information, it's the best estimate we have. Whether it's 759,000 or 250,000, that's still too many people for the state to process with IDs before the election. What is the harm in waiting a few months? I'm not advocating the end of the law in this post, just questioning the timing of implementation. No one has given me any reason why waiting six months is going to cause any great problems.

George: People will have already had half-a-year to comply with the law before Election Day. Fact is, too many people do not [ay attention, do not care, or are too lazy - voter wise - to do what's necessary.

George: As of mid-July only 2400 people in the entire state had obtained the necessary ID. Now if you believe the 760,000 number is the "best estimate available", does that 2400 sound like a serious effort by those needing the IDs or a total lack of interest in doing what's necessary??

@Mike: Here is the story of a woman who could not get the ID. That is, until she challenged the law. The state gave her a temporary card, but it's easy to question whether she would have received one without the attention that was being paid to her story: http://thegrio.com/2012/08/17/viviette-applewhite-93-year-old-plaintiff-in-pa-voter-id-case-gets-card-amid-appeal/. Here are more stories: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-08-16/voter-id-law-pennsylvania/57146916/1.

Well. George, if you read the same story I read, the reporter, who accompanied her to the PENNDOT office, stated that Ms. Applewhite did not appear to have received any "special attention" and that the PENNDOT clerk did not appear to recognize her or her name.

The fact that Ms. Applewhite was able to obtain her photo ID at her age, and with the difficulties she faced as were well-documented, then any Working Joe Shmoe has absolutely no excuse!

@brianne, yes that's what the comparison was against, registered voters vs DMV records

If you read the rest of the Applewhite story, you will find out the clerk gave her the ID in error. Mike, there was no real coverage on this until the last few months. The DOS sent out a letter to people on the no match list that didn't tell them they were on the no match list (yes that's not a typo) the end of July. The new Dept of State ID wasn't available until the end of August. Actually it is if you are a senior do not drive and do not have a birth certificate. Only 71 of the 390 PennDOT centers do ID. The staff is not well trained and the hours are limited. How about about acquiring some empathy. The reality not the rhetoric

That's because more types of ID's are acceptable. See my other post.

They did rule on the decision. They sent it back for further consideration. This happens all the time. It gives the lower court the respect of making a determination that is in proper alignment to the scope of the law. The legitimacy of the decision in this case has a precedent. What would you have said if they had struck the law entirely?

@Curmudgeon, Below are the figures for party breakdown for Philadelphia that I found on Wikipedia. When almost 80% of the population is registered as democrat, it's only natural that a democrat will usually win the election. Cities generally trend democrat, while rural areas usually trend republican. There's no need to steal when 80% of the people have your back. It's a simple matter of demographics, not some sort of sinister plot to takeover the world.

As of December 31, 2009, there were 1,057,038 registered voters in Philadelphia. Registered voters constitute 68.3% of the total population.

Democratic: 829,873 (78.5%)
Republican: 134,216 (12.7%)
Libertarian 2,631 (0.2%)
Other Parties and No party: 90,318 (8.5%)[

That is poll worker fraud , not voter fraud. The ID will not fix that.

Given the fact that 759,000 people don't have the ID who are otherwise registered and eligible to vote, and given the fact that the state cannot possibly issue 759,000 IDs between now and election day, why not extend the deadline six months to a year to allow people (and the state) to catch up to the regulations? Why not make this something that we implement in a more careful time frame? What's the rush?

X-ray- photo id not required by hospital
electricity hook -up- photo id not required (need proof of residence)
rent a car - I hope drivers license is required

You also needed a picture ID to attend the DNC Convention or to hear U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder speak at the NAACP convention about ... wait for it ... voter photo ID laws!

You can't make that stuff up!

We don't have special constitutional clauses enshrining as essentially sacred the right to get xrays, a cell phone, rent a car or obtain new electric service. Voting is really different from everything you named. Bad analogy, Maria.

You can't buy pornography, alchohol or cigarettes either Maria. You should know that. Thing is, their not constitutionally guaranteed rights. Think!

Just to illustrate, the Supreme Court Justices' judicial photo id would allow them to get that check, cash it, go on a plane, buy cold medicine and all the myriad of examples that have been brought up, EXCEPT, it wouldn't be good for voting. The more you know...

Kaari- Who drove your daughter to the DMV? Was she fortunate enough to have you or another trusted person drive her, or did she take the LANTA bus from Coopersburg? Sure, it's easy to get ID when you don't have to worry about missing work and someone will drive you to the DMV. The ID system does keep things safe, perhaps, but what's the harm in giving the 759,000 people another few months to get the ID? 759,000 people don't have the ID for whatever reason. Maybe they don't drink alcohol or smoke cigarettes, or maybe they are 90 years old and restricted in their mobility. Whatever the reason, what's the harm in waiting on the implementation of this law for just a few months longer?

Also, ID is needed to vote for the first time with any new voter registration. After that, your signature file will be matched each time you sign in to vote. It's a system that has worked flawlessly for decades - not a single case of in-person voter impersonation in Pennsylvania. The funny thing is, Democrats have been hard at work for months getting their registered voters set with ID. Republicans, who have been smugly gloating about their new law, don't seem to realize that it will also impact many of their own senior-citizen voters. If the law stands, it could hurt Repubs just as much as it does Democrats. That would be pretty interesting to see.

Gee, I guess it's not a "targeted law" after all ...

Just to illustrate and educate, the Supreme Court Justices' judicial photo id would allow them to get that check, cash it, go on a plane, buy cold medicine and all the myriad of examples that have been brought up, EXCEPT, it wouldn't be good for voting. People have IDs, just not all have IDs good for voting. The more you know...

I am not a democrat. I am not complaining. Are you implying that all democrats are criminals worthy of suspicion? I cannot believe the crazy level of partisanship here. That "with us or against us" mentality is ridiculous. I ask over and over again, "Why not give this law another six months to a year until it's effective, thereby giving everyone without the ID, and the state, time to catch up?" No one answers this question. No one has given me a good reason why waiting a bit on this is such a bad thing. It's crazy how angry everyone is. Instead of trying to work with one another, everyone keeps attacking, attacking, attacking. It's gross.

It's not just the people, it's the State of Pennsylvania. The state cannot issue the required number of IDs in time for the election. Please give me a reason why waiting another six months is going to cause irreparable harm to our democracy.

Kaari, I think you should read the Court's decision. PennDot was unable to issue any of the photo IDs required by the law until August 27, which was after the Department of State came up with an extra-legal workaround for the tricks and traps set forth in the statute. More importantly, this law is in reality, a precedent for a GOP gun control law, as it will empower the state to require a Photo ID for all ammunition purchases. After that, the state can then require that the photo ID must be renewed monthly for purchases. In short, giving this much power to the state over a fundamental Constitutional right is not very conservative, wise or republican.

Hi, Publius: I've been seeing a lot of posts relating voter ID with gun control. I am not clear on how these two are related and curious to learn more. Is there a website you could recommend? I think I have some understanding, but I'd like to learn more. Thanks in advance!

Kaari- I appreciate the resource. I'm guessing those folks would also give rides to dems in need of a lift, as well as independents like me. I would hope they don't ask party affiliation when I call. But with all respect, I can't get an answer from anyone for my question related to the harm of waiting another six months for this law to be effective. For whatever the reason, 759,000 are registered and don't have the proper ID. The state cannot issue 759,000 IDs in time. Why is it such a big deal to wait another six months to implement this?

Kaari: Drivers aren't the issue. The PennDot infrastructure is the issue, as the Court held. In fact, I was at the Frazer PennDot office this morning and a simple camera card renewal took over 90 minutes. Even without any voter ID requests, the office lacked any staff to provide service for anyone other than the lines of people seeking help with driver's licenses. Besides, the issue is how much Government control you want over your fundamental rights. If you want the Government to provide licenses for your rights, then they aren't really "rights," are they?

Oh, don't knock James. At least he gives us a chance to have a little chuckle. No harm in that.

You are ignoring the facts, the same facts the state used in arguing the case, that there really isn't any evidence of fraud. The state says there is no real evidence of voter fraud. Those are the same folks arguing for the IDs. Please show me evidence that there are lots of people voting for dead people.

How is that not the responsibility of the creators of the registration lists to purge the deceased from them? And how many deceased votes have been cast by in-person impersonators?

I gotta say that this post is way funnier (and more appropriate to me) than the ones where you write "democraps." I won't be flagging this. It's too funny.

Hey, I really did google Curmudgeon. Do it on Google Image, you'll find Muppets. And thanks, but no thanks. Seriously.

How can you say that when the state admits there has never been any incident that this law would apply to? I mean really - what you're saying makes absolutely no sense.

No, most Democrats, at least, don't want this voter ID law to go through because it's ill-conceived, ineffective at actually preventing fraud, and exclusionary to registered voters. A voter ID as part of a larger, systematic fraud prevention program is a great idea, and one that needs considerable more care put into than what we've been presented with.

Ah, but If you were really a psychic, you'd have known he was going to do that.

Nope, it's a list of actually registered voters.

What???!!!

Roy is "challenged"

@Joan: That's not true. It's on the site for the Philadelphia Inquirer: http://articles.philly.com/2012-07-30/news/32924333_1_penndot-id-new-voter-id-law-voter-rolls. The reason that number is mentioned so much is because it's the number the state used in its legal arguments justifying the law. The people who are working to keep this law in place mention that number. It's not like there's some sort of conspiracy here. Unfortunately, it's the best numbers we have. Let's say the list is almost completely wrong and only 100,000 people don't have the ID. That's still a way higher number than anyone has been able to give in citing incidence of fraud. Anyway, no conspiracy here. The facts are being reported and are available to those who wish to do the research.

Walter, you are retarted.

How many times are you going to cut and paste that?

Walter: This article contains some stories of those who cannot get the proper ID in time for the election: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-08-16/voter-id-law-pennsylvania/57146916/1. It's not just the lazy that cannot get the card, as you imply.

Morgan - As many times as they run this same tired issue under different Headline stories.

Al, If iam 18 an have an ID that means I am stupid? I am quoting you. I think you are a dum dum Al.

Do you think this law, as it's been enacted, does not demonstrably suppress voters? Because every single bit of factual data we've got says it does. Any ID law isn't voter suppression, this ID law, however, is.

I agree Al. People constantly throw around inaccurate language and nasty words to generalize groups of people, like those who talk of Democraps and Repugs, or whatever. It doesn't serve the conversation well.

Though, to be sure, it didn't help the conversation when Turzai, the PA House Republican leader boasted: "Voter ID, which is gonna allow Governor Romney to win the state of Pennsylvania, done." http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0612/77811.html.

It may have been a gaffe (as it was spun after the fact), but it was a very poor choice of words considering the level of emotion running through this debate. Saying that was extremely unprofessional and gives ammo to the folks who see this as an effort to suppress voting.

Hey Fa Fa Fooey -You need to read again what I wrote. You misunderstood. I said that if you DON'T have an ID by 18, then maybe you are stupid. Apparently you DO have an ID and you ARE at least 18, so it looks like YOU are the "dum dum".

Al- you are truely a dum dum. I am looking at your post----last sentence"If you're too stupid TO have an ID by age 18, maybe you're too stupid to vote.---at least delete & repost. DUM DUM!!!!

Well, since there weren't Photo ID's when a lot of the seniors were 18, how would your describe them? or does it describe you?

George you're a funny guy. I take back what I said, but not to Al. Sorry George.

Don't encourage the middle schooler. He has to get up early tomorrow for the bus.

Al, it was you who was heard saying at the swingers club that your ID is out-of-date. The swingers club, Al take better care of your "girlfriend".

Because attending the DNC, seeing your DAV Rep, buying cigarettes, alcohol, or cashing a check aren't guaranteed to you by the 15th and 19th Amendments to the Constitution, nor are they the very foundation of our system of government - a right to vote is guaranteed to all adult citizens, regardless of what forms of ID they may or may not have.

Morgan - Not ‘regardless of what forms of ID they may or may not have’. An ID is required to vote. I had to produce identification to get my Certificate of Voter Registration card. I must be registered, in the book, and my signatures must match in order for me to vote.

Times evolve. IDs evolve. Before paper, we took ‘word’ as ID. Then a ‘mark’ on paper was good. Now we have picture IDs.

A picture ID is required for almost everything in today’s ‘modern’ world.

People need to move forward or be left behind. It is their choice.

In the time that I have seen dedicated to this blog by some, they could have obtained a valid picture ID card, or, helped someone else get theirs.

Walter, you mistake the arguments here for excuses. And you assume that Democrats can't walk and chew gum at the same time - or in this case, argue that the VoterID law is an outrageous abuse of power while at the same time working feverishly to make sure that those Democrats who need ID will have it at the polls, if necessary. Meanwhile, Republicans are smugly assuming that everyone who will be affected by this law is a Democrat - and they seem to be ignoring the large number of their very oldest registered voters who will be caught in this same trap on Election Day if the law is still in place by then.

Hey Morgan when the Constitution was written blacks were slaves, women couldn't vote or own property, and no one new what a drivers license was or a ID for that matter. Oh and cashing a check is protected under he Constitution, ever here of commerce. I sell someone something and they pay by check and then I go to the bank cash it. Thats commerce and its protected!!!!

Billy--I bet you wouldn't give a ride to Hector, Carlos, or Tyrone. Shut up you dum dum.

I'm pretty sure lawmakers handled the bulk of that in the Voting Rights Act and in multiple Constitutional Amendments. I agree, though, that we're going to need improved ID policies as interactions becomes increasingly abstracted in the digital age. Of course when the Clinton and Feinstein pushed for it in the 90s, Libertarians and far-Right proponents freaked out about it as totalitarian socialism that trampled state's rights (as opposed to, say, social security cards and passports):

http://www.wnd.com/1998/06/3266/
http://www.fff.org/freedom/0294c.asp
http://gunowners.org/fs9816.htm
http://www.govtech.com/magazines/gt/Whats-Wrong-With-a-National-ID.html
http://www.bibleplus.org/prophecy/biometric_national_id_card.htm

Morgan, you are correct.
Personally I see nothing wrong with having a national ID card, in fact, in a way I have one, it is called a Social Security Card. I also have a passport.
There is nothing wrong in being able to show who you are, especially when it comes to citizenship or any organization. Almost all organizations have ID cards for their members.
The important thing is to make sure all who want an ID and are eligible can get one.
What I don't want to hear is people who have IDs for benefits complain it is too difficult to get a voter ID, especially when they have no problem making the trip to Harrisburg to protest the law.

Read the PA constitution, it is one of the requirements

Can only use your social security card to vote absentee.

The birth date of the voter is in the signature voter roll. The poll worker was inept and ID will not fix that.

It's a good thing the voter ID card is *FREE*, then, isn't it?

Well, Becky, it's only been free since Aug 31, and it's only 'free' if you don't include taking off work during business hours or transportation to and from, and can do that within the 9 week period before the election that they are available.

But it does require that it comes from a state or federal source (and has an expiration date) - Driver's License, State ID, Passport, Military ID, Gov employee ID, ID from state accredited college, or a PA care facility. Most people affected this law, though, are people without a driver's license who also aren't international travelers, state employees, military, or in retirement homes. For students, many colleges don't have expiration dates on their IDs. While people without those can cast provisional ballots, there are many problems with how we handle and count those, too.

http://www.votespa.com/portal/server.pt?open=514&objID=1174114&parentname=ObjMgr&parentid=4&mode=2

Nope, only 71 of the states 390 PennDOT centers do Photo ID and licenses, 9 counties are without 1. Many are only open 1 day a week, the staff is not well trained. No wonder only 5000 ids have been issued

Great for you - however, not every person is in your same situation. Assuming that's due to laziness is an easy way to dismiss those people without any actual information about who they are and why they haven't obtained a valid ID yet.

It's a combination of both, I think. Since the bill was passed in March, less than 10,000 photo IDs were issued as of the end of AUgust. If you give credence to the claim that 750,000 to 1 million people needed IDs, then there's definitely a large measure of Lazy out there in regards to getting what's needed.

@Mike, @Arthur and all you other supporters of this shameful law, have any of you been to a PennDOT license center recently? Have you seen the long lines, know the limited hours? Have you dealt with untrained staff that makes you make unnecessary trips back and forth? Have you had to choose between working a day to feed your family or taking that day off to get ID to vote? I think more people aren't bothering with voting ID because they don't need it in their day to day life and they think both the Dems and the GOP leave a lot to be desired. How dare you call people who don't have ID to vote irresponsible and lazy. Disabled Veterans, senior citizens and the working poor are not lazy. How can you be lazy when you have to work 2 jobs to make ends meet? How irresponsible can you be to get injured while you served your country? How clueless can you be?

Oh, Adrian, save us the melodrama. I didn't say they were ALL lazy, just that there is a lot of laziness in having ONLY 10,000 IDs issued for the so-called "million disenfranchised". What's your explanation? That 990,000 people out of a million couldn't get through the PENNDOT process?!?

People don't care. They certainly aren't motivated - as they were in 2008 - to vote. I don't buy for a minute the I-can't-get/take-a-day-to-get-to-PENNDOT explanation for those numbers.

Mike, limited PennDot locations, hours and untrained staff account for a good part, not having any candidate to vote for is another, Lot of people think no matter who wins, they lose. And it really is difficult for seniors. You should see their faces when you tell them what they will have to do to vote, something they have been legally doing for years. .

Rep Metcalfe said they were all lazy.

You should also read my posts and blog on the Ardmore Patch for the real info on voter ID. Glad to see a few others who have done their homework.

I think the "laziness" and civic duty arguments for this law are specious. The question is whether the government has (or should have) the power to condition the exercise of a fundamental right on obtaining a specific form of identification. If the answer to that question is yes, as the GOP says, then it necessarily means (as the GOP itself plans) that the government may also condition gun ownership, religious practice, written and verbal speech and other exercises of fundamental freedoms on a person having and presenting a specific form of identification. It seems to me that this Government power grab is precisely contrary to everything the GOP, the NRA and the Tea Party are against. After all, if you need a license for your rights, then they aren't rights, are they? So, the really bad part about this law is the horrible precedent it sets for the rights of gun owners, bloggers, and religious worshipers. To me, this is a massive expansion of government power over individual liberty.

Well, Publius, they already condition gun ownership. But registering religious practice and speech is bit "out there", don't ya think? And have you tried to buy a 20+ oz of Pepsi in New York lately?

Big Brother and Overbearing Mom are already here and well-established.

Conflating the "right to bear arms" with the "right to vote," but framing it as "the right to buy guns," is a pretty shaky comparison - If you want to take up arms without an ID, go grab a pitchfork. If provisional ballots were actually included in the count, maybe it would work a little better - the closest comparison I could come up with to approximate requiring an ID to buy guns with voting was maybe requiring State ID and SSN numbers to vote online, or something similar? Regardless, you can wait as long as you want to get an ID to buy a gun someday, but you can only vote in this election on 11/6/12. I'm pretty sure we can get everyone IDs for guns and voting by 2016, maybe even 2014, if the parties work together on it.

So true Adrian, this law impacts many people, but especially the elderly. It amazes me that people cannot get it into their heads that there are expenses and travel considerations involved in getting the proper ID, that many cannot manage. So much for Compassionate Conservatism.

I think that the fact you need the last 4 digits of your social security number to register to vote is the same as needing ID to buy a gun. You don't need ID to shoot the gun why would you need it to vote. Also the underground market is not as big.

In today's Inky, similar situation to what I went through, but not quite. I was told by Chester County Voter services that they could would change my voter registration to reflect my name on my license, if I faxed a copy of my license to to their office. They then would scan my signature for the voting rolls. I wonder how many senior citizens have a fax machine to complete this bizarre process.
http://mobile.philly.com/columnists/?wss=/philly/columnists/annette_john-hall/&id=171079821&viewAll=y#more

Apparently you did not read the post properly, I think it is an outrage that the veterans id is not good enough to use to vote since it doesn't have an expiration date. Do they all have a valid ID for voting?

You finally caught on.

Most sensible comment on this entire board.