Why should we do that? The new law combats voter fraud. We all know democrats hate this law because it disrupts the voter fraud machine. You have to show your ID at a union vote... democrats support that to avoid fraud in their union elections. Even seniors in a nursing home can get an ID FROM the nursing home.

Take a look
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2011/12/four-ny-democrats-plead-guilty-to-voter-fraud/

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/04/02/4-indiana-dems-charged-with-election-fraud-in-2008/

It's pathetic that Republicans with their tea party friends rant and cry about cutting taxes and budgets but have no problem wasting millions of taxpayer dollars to pay the costs of this incredibly ignorant law..Where was the fraud?? Where is the fraud?? Millions wasted...Corbett cuts education and human services to shreds and throws millions away on crap like this..He's a joke..

Corbett only cut the "Obama Bonus Bucks" that were in the stimulus package. When the Stimulus Package ended, these dollars were taken from Pa., i.e. CUT BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. What did you want Corbett to do, borrow the money we lost from the Federal Government from the Chinese, like Obama does? Learn the facts. Pennsylvania can't print money like Obama.

Sorry Michael that is a GOP myth. Corbett cut educational block grants that had been previously funded by state dollars along with social security and charter school reimbursements as well as programs such as Pre K counts. That is a popular lie being used in Harrisburg by Corbett.

Here's 5 cases of voter fraud in PA alone!

Here are 5 cases of voter fraud in PA that I posted at another article on this subject several weeks ago:

case 1: http://old.post-gazette.com/pg/09127/968466-100.stm

case 2: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_628385.html

case 3: http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-10-22-voter-registrations-acorn_N.htm

case 4: http://old.post-gazette.com/regionstate/19990522murphy1.asp

case 5: http://articles.philly.com/1996-02-14/news/25657086_1_vote-fraud-absentee-ballot-absentee-ballot

A sixth case from another state:

case 6: The Indiana Secretary of State, a Republican, was recently convicted of felony voter fraud with regards to falsifying his own residency, and has been removed from office. Ironically, Secretary of State is the state official in charge of voting issues!

The case stemmed from the fact that when he was divorced, the gentleman moved from his former marital home, but failed to re-register there, even though he otherwise remained an Indiana resident and fulfilled all the requirements to be S of S.

Ted, those first two stories you noted are actually two stories about the same incident, and that incident, along with that in the third link you noted, both involved some workers in their late teens and early 20's from an organization that no longer exists (ACORN). In neither case were any fraudulent votes actually cast. Rather, the fraudulent registrations were filed by the young workers in order to meet a daily quota that had been imposed upon them by the organization so that they could get their daily pay. Certainly inexcusable, and illegal, but not at the heart of the matter. The last two stories are both related to absentee ballots. How, exactly, would the new ID law prevent fraudulent absentee ballots from being cast?

Provide a source that proves the rate of fraud is low. Also provide a source that suggests large numbers of people don't have photo ID.

M.E.
where is the evidence that the fraud rate is high?

We all need to be respectful of eachother! Be nice to the poll workers, please. Regardless of your feelings on the matter it is not their fault.

Voter fraud is an erosion of every persons civil liberty.

Well played, Bill...well played.

So, you're suggesting there is no voter fraud, or just trying to deflect the conversation away from facts? Always in the liberal playbook to bring up Fox News, rather than a valid source that has research that suggests there is NO voter fraud. You don't have that source, do you? You may not have any plans to place to cast fraudulent votes, but my links above show others do. Hence the need for ID.

Um, Michael, I'm bringing up Fox News because they are the loudest voice crying about the epidemic of voter fraud. And your request to provide research which suggests there is no voter fraud is a logical fallacy, as it is asking to prove a negative. Prove to me that there is no exaggeration in Fox News' reporting, and I'll prove to you that there is no voter fraud. I'll wait.

You don't have to wait. Just do some research. You'll find dozens of cases of voter fraud. And those are only the people who were caught. I'll await your evidence that there is no fraud. You don't have any, because there has been fraud every since the country was founded.

Michael, let me try this again: YOU CAN'T PROVE A NEGATIVE. Stop asking people to try. You're insulting the general intelligence even further.

Bill,

Michael is only interested in blaming democrats for everything. This isn't about fraud at all. Its obvious by his posts. Fraud is a bipartisian issue, but it seems that certain right wingers only pay attention if a democrat is involved.

Exactly. You can't prove a negative. And many links have been provided showing there is fraud. Bingo. We need voter ID. See how simple that was?

M. Joseph. OK< now you agree there is fraud, you even state it's bi-partisan. OK, so you agree we need voter ID to cut down on fraud... both sides do it.

Of course there is fraud. Always will be. Fake ID's are easy to get, too. I dont believe for a second that requiring people to show ID's will change anything. Those who want to break the law will just find another way around it. This requirement will make no difference. Its just and attempt to disenfranchise a certain segment of voters. Again I believe this is a purely political move. Unless someone can show where voter fraud actually changed an outcome, i think its just one more example of Politicians inventing a problem so they can come along and save the day.

Tony...If they did not offer to pay for it you would have said your fellow democrats could not afford to obtain them.....empty argument !!

sheriffChris, your stated argument holds no argument. I am a republican and do not agree with the wasteful spending. So you are wrong on your accusation that I am a democrat. Republicans, conservative ones like myself and Ron Paul, wouldn't agree with our tax dollars being forcefully used to buy others IDs when I have to buy my own ID. I guess you agree with wasteful spending then. What would be next? Make all car registrations and fees FREE for people who cant or choose not to buy it for themselves? Its a ridiculous ID law that was funded with my tax dollars. I can't believe you agree with that.

RIght on the money. Those that died for this right would be SICKENED by the rampant voter fraud.

I just...don't understand your line of argument, Michael. You're saying that the level of voter fraud is so great and rampant that it requires the passing of a law which will have no effect on most of the instances of shenanigans in the voting process (i.e. fraudulent registrations, which don't show up in the voting booth), but will disenfranchise a segment of voters as surely as the old "poll tax" system did. (And Timothy, those who fought and died for our right to vote surely did not wish to die so that that right could be removed from a sector of the populace who do not have the proper paperwork.) Are you also in favor of more stringent identification laws and background checks for, say, gun ownership, since there are far more grievous consequences to society seen every day by the sales of weapons to those who have no business purchasing them nor having access to them?

My father. A veteran. He stopped driving and his license was not renewed. He fought for his country in Korea unlike almost all of the people posting here, including you. He has no photo id which is current. He is a supervoter. I'll take care of him for fall but he has made it clear that he wouldn't vote for a republican again as long as he lived. And frankly, he's got company.

It is a shame that an honorable man like your father will not have an open mind and look at the issues and vote on individual issues and will let this one thing, that I feel protects the sanctity of my vote, keep him from voting for that party ever again. Regardless, I still thank him for his service.

Yes, but Ron, all of those other instances and examples that you cite are privileges of an advanced society, not constitutionally-guaranteed rights. What this law does is threaten a constitutionally-guaranteed right if someone doesn't have the proper paperwork, no less than if you required someone to have a background check before they could exercise their right to free speech. Yes, you have to show ID to buy beer, but the analogy hardly holds up. Whether or not you or I feel as though it's a simple thing to have the proper ID for voting, there are those citizens who may not see it that way.

This law does not strip you of your constitutionally guaranteed right to vote. It actually guarantees you of it. You can say look this is who i am and i am exercising my right to vote !!!!

But Ron, that action is now, with the passing of this law, contingent on possessing the "proper" paperwork. It's not going to be as simple as saying, this is who I am, I came to vote. There will be people who will be denied their legitimate right to vote based upon the particularities of the law. That seems, to me, if not a constitutional violation, then at least pushing at the edges of one.

Sometimes truth is bizarre... many things the Democrats do is bizarre. Spending $1.4 Trillion more than we have is bizarre..... focusing on Obamacare the first two years in office instead of the economy is bizzare..... saying that increasing the supply of oil will not lower the price, when increasing the supply of natural gas has dropped the price 40% in the last 18 months, is bizarre...... Giving Solyndra 1/2 a billion dollars when you own staff tells you they don't have a viable business plan is bizarre.... promising to close Gitmo in a year and not doing it is bizarre..... holding up an oil pipeline from Canada is bizarre.... selling guns to Mexian drug lords so you can "prove" the guns come from the U.S. is bizarre... Spending most of your time as president doing fund raisers for the last 18 months is bizarre.... Arguing that we need to tax people who make $1 million dollars, which will raise $5 billion a year, while our deficit is $1,500 BILLION a year, is bizarre.....

Finding anyone who will vote for Obama again, despite the horrific job Obama has done, is bizarre.

See? No shortage of TRUE bizarre events.

But Rosemary, where in the U.S. Constitution are we given the right to buy cough medicine and spray paint? And yes, those things are regulated, because they are POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS SUBSTANCES. One might think that the legislators behind the passing of this law considered the freedom to vote to be an equally dangerous substance, one which required greater regulation...

I don't consider it a regulation but a protection. It protects that I have one vote and it is protected for me. No one else will be able to use my name and vote in a way I don't want elsewhere, therefore canceling out my vote. Votes can be dangerous if they are being cast fraudulently.

Then, tell me how these people exsist in society? How do they go to Dr's without ID, how do they cash a ck, get a job or open up a bank account. Do government agency's not ask for ID when you apply for Social Security or other benefits?

They use their birth certificate ( not acceptable), their school or college id (not acceptable), their photocards from their employment (not acceptable). Not everyone lives in these rural/suburban areas. If you don't drive and don't have a passport, you don't have acceptable voting id. People in big cities can often use public transportation exclusively. This law is about bigotry and partisanship, plain and simple. It's a solution which needed a problem. There is no record of anyone in PA being prosecuted for voter fraud regardless of what Mr. Eddinger's foxnews friends tell him.

I'm sorry, but Birth Certificates should not be used by anyone over the age of 18 for the purposes of ID. And if you live in a big city you can easily take mass transit over to City Hall and get a non-driver photo id. Also, Pa. College id is acceptable according to this article.

Ya, it will disenfranchise all the illegals who vote, and all the fraud that occurs. Some call that voter fraud.

Maybe people need to keep in mind the question "am I better off now then I was 3 years ago?" when they vote today and vote in different people. I know with the pending Health Care takeover by the government and nearly $4 a gallon gas I certainly am not living better now!

Oh ya... there is no budget crisis when we are spending $1.4 TRILLION dollars more per year than we take in. No crisis there.... Republicans are trying to address the issue. Obama has done NOTHING except increase spending dramatically.

Opposing fair pay for women.... source please? Gerrymandering districts? That was invented by the Democrats to create districts where minorities would become a majority. Needless voter ID bills? Only needless if you support voter fraud... like most Democrats do. And today at the polls, it's a primary. So it will be a bit hard to vote ourside your registered party.

Here's an interesting article in philly.com about the multiple side benefits that this law may have for previously ID-less people:

http://www.philly.com/philly/columnists/monica_yant_kinney/20120321_Monica_Yant_Kinney__Voter_ID_law_shines_light_on_a_need_of_many.html?page=2&c=y

My 96 year old mother, who also never drove, had free government issued foto-ID for at least 20 years (issued by county sheriff's office), even before foto's were required on driver's licenses in her state. It was essential for banking and other business. This voter ID-law will help get ID into the hands of many people who until now have been dis-enfranchised from many aspects of everyday life and business.

BTW, I have been a polling-site supervisor in one of the first states to have voter-ID requirement, and it works quite efficiently. No one is turned away from the poll, even if they are at the wrong place. Any voter who is questioned for any reason (including by the poll watchers from either party) can fill out a provisional ballot, which would be counted later by the county if the issue causing the challenge is cleared up. So far, the only challenge that I ever had was on two absentee ballots which one of the other poll workers knew that the people had moved away many years before.

My 88 yr old mother made me take her to get a non-drivers photo ID recently. Not so she could vote. It was just in case she won big at the casino, so she could claim her winnings! I think if we can require ID to collect casino winnings we can require ID to vote!

Rosemary, As usual, its the democrats encouraging others to harass poll workers today. I too will proudly show my ID and thank them for their service.

The agenda of this and other laws which suppress liberty are orchestrated by ALEC who owns these new republican governors. It's an effort to disenfranchise the black vote, which sways elections because of the high populations in urban areas. It's really kind of frightening how those who pretend to believe in personal liberty have bought into their agenda against the poor, the minorities, and the women.