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Voter ID – zombie legislation that refuses to die

For a party whose central tenet is supposed to revolve around individual rights and responsibilities, Republican strategists and policymakers seem to enjoy repression and restriction of said rights to stake out wins as of late.

Swing voters should feel cheated right about now. On the national and state level, they spoke loudly last fall, voting Republican in hopes of change, for jobs to be created, so things could get moving.

Instead, they got loud proclamations about federal defunding of Planned Parenthood, so abortions would never be funded with federal dollars – even though that has been the law since the 1976 adoption of the Hyde Amendment.

They got fast-moving state proposals to strip public sector unions of their right to collectively bargain.  While Wisconsin and Gov. Scott Walker bore the brunt of the media glare and public outrage, his counterparts in Ohio, Indiana, Oklahoma and elsewhere have been trooping along the same road, nearly unabated.

Now the latest policy popping up state-to-state is voter ID legislation. And it’s resurfacing in Pennsylvania in the form of state House bill 934. And no, it doesn’t mention jobs. Nary one.

It does mention those casting a ballot needing a government-issued photo ID before they can vote. On its face, it’s innocuous enough. That is until you consider the voter disenfranchisement implications.

Those most likely to be impacted would be (a) people who are poor, who often don’t have a driver’s license since they have no car or access to one; (b) seniors, who may opt not to keep an old driver’s license in the age of identity theft if they’ve stopped driving; (c) people in transition, because most folks getting their lives back together don’t run to the post office to apply for a passport; and (d) young people still floundering, not in school, the military or with access to a car, hence, no driver’s license.

Proponents will say – and have been saying for years – that it’s all an effort to stem “voter fraud.” There was cause for those charges locally in 1994, when the balance of power tipped into Republican hands due to outlandish Democratic behavior.

Scant evidence of anything like that fiasco has been seen since. But that’s beside the point.

Apparently what’s more important is that a potential swath of voters – more than likely leaning “blue” – could be dropped from the voter pool, right in time for 2012. Both Texas and Ohio – where Republican majorities rule legislative branches – have boasted passing a form of a voter ID bill in one chamber and are fast-tracking it toward the other, if not the governor’s office. Pennsylvania is just trying to play catch up.

Because nothing says ending state deficits like wrangling little old ladies to the ground for failing to flash photo ID before entering the voting booth.

We’ve seen this movie before — as recently as 2006 and 2008 – and it’s curious that these types of policies seem to focus on limiting which voices get heard – and that their authors seem to be reading from the same script.

Recently in New Hampshire, a key primary state, there was legislation considered that would have barred college students from voting unless their parents are residents of the state.

Never mind if you are a tax-paying young person bringing tuition and other support dollars to the state. The message is clear: young, idealistic people as voters pose a threat to those who would impose a rigid view on how things should be run. After all, President Obama body surfed on that vote into the White House.

That New Hampshire bill was killed 267-72. Voter ID has proven more resilient – inspiring copycat bills state to state.

The Longhorn State has the usual ID calls, but would exempt those 70 or older. A hiccup by GOP lawmakers stalled passage, but with that hurdle cleared, Gov. Rick Perry eagerly awaits, Bic in hand.

The Buckeye bill requires the state Bureau of Motor Vehicles to issue ID cards for free if someone can’t afford them. With budget ax grinding, there’s not much faith that would be a fully-funded plan.

Kansas is on its way to issuance. Alabama, Arkansas, North and South Carolina — the list of Republican-run states rushing forward on this one continues growing.

Back at home, state Rep. Angel Cruz made a counter offer, HB 647, which instead calls for all voter registration cards to include a photo on them. If it truly is all about ending “fraud,” “reforming and updating the system,” then the Cruz bill should be embraced as an ample compromise.

Then again, there hasn’t been too much of that floating around any government chamber for quite some time.

March 30, 2011 at 5:05 pm

--Nia Meeks

Tags: cruz, House Bill 647, House Bill 934, Nia Meeks, nmeeks, pa2012.com, Voter ID bill, Voter Registration

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