Pennsylvania Democrats Continue Smear Campaign Against Voter ID

Protecting our elections should be a bipartisan effort; why are Democrats still opposed?

HARRISBURG — Republican Party of Pennsylvania Executive Director Mike Barley released the following statement regarding Pennsylvania Democrats’ continued smear campaign against commonsense voter ID reform:

“It’s just sad that Democrats are continuing their efforts to fight against a measure that will deliver fair elections for all voters,” Barley said. “To allege that showing photo identification before voting is discriminatory or too much of a hardship doesn’t pass the smell test and Pennsylvanians aren’t falling for their smokescreen. Recent polling shows that the overwhelming majority of Pennsylvanians agree that showing identification before voting is good, commonsense legislation and will help prevent voter fraud.

“Democrats continue to gloss over the fact that voter fraud exists and that folks like Joseph Cheeseboro/Cheeseborough committing voter fraud cancel out the ballots of eligible voters. Voter fraud is unacceptable and we support any effort to protect the vote.”

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The arguments against voter ID don’t hold up. 99% of Pennsylvanians have ID.

Ninety-nine percent of Pennsylvanians already have ID that would suffice as voter identification, according to Carol Aichele, secretary of the commonwealth. Free ID cards would be available to the rest. Eighty-six percent of Pennsylvanians who responded supported voter ID in a June poll conducted by KQV Radio/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of voter ID. A University of Delaware study showed voter ID laws did not diminish turnout, even across racial, ethnic, and socio-economic lines.

With widespread public support for the bill, the need to protect our elections from fraud, and no indication that eligible voters would be disenfranchised, voter ID is something the Philadelphia Bar Association should support. At the very least, the nation’s oldest organization of lawyers should recognize that its membership is not an echo chamber of liberal Democratic hyperbole.

(Kerns, Linda. Voter ID Bill is Necessary. Philadelphia Inquirer. March 11, 2012.)

Pennsylvania voters favor voter ID by 2-1 margin

Pennsylvania voters approve 66 – 32 percent a new state law requiring voters to have photo ID to cast their ballot. Approval is 91 – 7 percent among Republicans and 64 – 35 percent among independent voters, while Democrats are opposed 53 – 46 percent.

There is strong support for the photo ID requirement among all age and income groups.

“Keystone State voters say overwhelmingly, ‘No photo ID card, no ballot,’ supporting 2-1 the new state law requiring a picture ID in order to vote,” Malloy said.

From June 5 – 10, Quinnipiac University surveyed 997 registered voters with a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percentage points. Live interviewers call land lines and cell phones

(Qunnipiac University. June 12, 2012)

Nationally, 75% Support Showing Photo ID At The Polls

Support remains high for requiring voters to show photo identification before being allowed to cast their ballots. An increasing number of states across the country are putting that requirement into law.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 75% of Likely U.S. Voters believe voters should be required to show photo identification such as a driver’s license before being allowed to vote. Just 18% disagree and oppose such a requirement.

(Rasmussen Reports, June 9, 2011. )

Fraud: Cheeseboro vs Cheeseborough

“We should spare no expense to ensure the integrity of our elections,” he said. “There have been documented cases of election fraud in Pennsylvania. It is a fact that dead people have cast ballots in Philadelphia.”

Miccarelli cited a recent incident of alleged voter fraud in which Philadelphia election commissioners removed two names — Joseph Cheeseboro and Joseph Cheeseborough — from voting lists. One of the men reportedly was registered to a vacant lot in Philadelphia and another man was registered to a 7-Eleven, according to Miccarelli.

(Lynch, Danielle. Opinions mixed on Voter ID. Delaware Daily Times. March 13, 2012.)

Official: Even with new Voter ID law, no one will be turned away at the polls.

“No eligible Pennsylvania voter will be denied the right to vote,” Secretary of State Carol Aichele said during a Capitol news conference outlining the steps her agency is taking to make sure Pennsylvania’s registered voters are brought up to speed on the state’s new Voter ID law.

(Micek, John. Official: Even with new Voter ID law, no one will be turned away at the polls. Capitol Ideas. April 18, 2012.)

Official Says Pa. Will Help Those With Expired Licenses Get Voter ID Cards

Pennsylvania’s top elections official has announced what’s being termed a “simplified” process for many people who need to obtain a photo ID under the state’s new voter ID law.

Pennsylvania secretary of state Carol Aichele says most senior citizens and others who have an expired Pennsylvania driver’s license or non-driver photo ID issued by PennDOT will not need to produce a birth certificate or other proof of ID when they go to a driver’s license center to get a free photo ID for voting purposes.

“If you have an expired license, you are already in the PennDOT system, and you had to produce proof of ID and residence when you originally got your license,” she explains.

(Romeo, Tony. Official Says Pa. Will Help Those With Expired Licenses Get Voter ID Cards. CBS. April 18, 2012.)

Pa. voter ID aids electoral process

The requirement, aimed at preventing voter fraud, made sense back then, and it makes sense today.

A voter ID would prevent a person from registering under a false name or with a false registration form. It also would prevent voting by illegal immigrants and those who are registered to vote in more than one state.
(Lancaster New Era, ” Pa. voter ID aids electoral process.” June 9, 2011.

Expert: Photo ID best way to detect voter fraud

“There is really no other way to detect impersonation at the polls,” said Hans von Spakovsky, a senior fellow for the Heritage Foundation. “Without ID, you’re entirely dependent on local election officials detecting that a registration is fraudulent. If they don’t, that name gets registered on the voter rolls as valid.”

He said the voter ID measure also prevents voting by illegal immigrants and those who are registered to vote in more than one state, which can be difficult for individual states to track.

(Boehm, Eric. The Pennsylvania Independent. Article published in the Upper Macungie Patch. “Expert: Photo ID best way to detect voter fraud.” June 8, 2011.)

Vote Fraud, Intimidation, and Suppression in the 2004 Presidential Election

In September 2004, the Pennsylvania Republican Party sent a letter to 130,000 newly registered voters in Philadelphia urging them to vote Republican. However, about 10,000 of these cards came back as returned mail as the address did not exist and/or no one by the voter’s name lived at the address on the envelope. Republicans soon discovered that many of the addresses listed for new registrants were in fact vacant lots and boarded-up buildings. In one sample of 100 registrants, 15 turned out to be dead.

At least some of these faulty registrations may have come from voter registration drives, as some Pennsylvania residents complained that ACORN was deliberately putting inaccurate information on their registration forms.

(American Center for Voting Rights. “Vote Fraud, Itimidation, and Suppression in the 2004 Presidential Election.” July 21, 2005.)

Video: Black Panther poll intimidation in Pennsylvania?

(From Fox News, posted on HotAir.com. “Video: Black Panther poll intimidation in Pennsylvania?” November 4, 2008.)

A Repeat of 2004 Philly Voter Chaos, Fraud

The City of Brotherly Love was roiled in controversy during the 2004 election because of rigged voting machines that showed nearly 2,000 votes for Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry before the polls had opened. A man also used a gun to intimidate poll workers at Ward 30, division 11 in 2004.

(Carpenter, Amanda. Townhall.com. “A Repeat of 2004 Philly Voter Chaos, Fraud.” November 4, 2008.)