Thursday, November 15, 2012
There’s much more opportunity for voter fraud with absentee ballots than at the polls.
There are four seasons in the coal region, according to the terrific web site CoalRegion.com: Almost winter, winter, still winter and construction. That observation came to mind during this past election season, which seemed to have the longevity of a coal region winter. At the risk of prolonging a season that many want to forget, I’d like to revisit one issue that is sure to come up again in future elections: Voter ID. There were complaints at some polls in Lehigh and Northampton counties that voters were being asked for identification even though a Commonwealth Court judge issued an injunction Oct. 2 that said photo identification wasn’t required this election (except for first-time voters.) The judge’s ruling, however, allowed the state…
Friday, November 9, 2012
Some voters were turned away Tuesday for not having photo ID even though the voter ID law was put on hold
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Friday, November 9, 2012
By Melissa Daniels | PA Independent HARRISBURG — The elections are over, but the discussion about voting integrity continues. In the Lehigh Valley, problems Tuesday included: controversial signs at Easton polls, questions that made voters uncomfortable in Nazareth and voters turned away in southside Bethlehem. House Speaker Sam Smith, R-Jefferson, told reporters Wednesday afternoon that he’s heard stories about 90 percent of precincts reporting 90 percent voter turnout. Smith called the numbers “questionable,” but would not call them evidence of fraud. Attempts to verify Smith’s claims were unsuccessful, but the comment alone was enough to anger state Sen. Vince Hughes, D-Philadelphia. Hughes said he was at a number of polling places on …
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Election Day brought problems at polls in several areas of eastern Pennsylvania
EASTERN PA — Several reports of voting irregularities in Eastern Pennsylvania emerged on Tuesday, the day of the presidential election. In Easton, signs appeared offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to voter fraud convictions. A constable for Easton’s 10th ward removed one such sign staked into the ground after consulting with an elections attorney on site. The Pennsylvania Commercial Action Network, the same group that posted “Replace ObamaCare” billboards around the state, made the signs. ID Requests Many Easton voters also reported poll workers asking for their IDs, even though IDs are not required for this election cycle under the law. Matthew Keeler, press secretary for the PA Department of State, said that's part of the …
Advocacy group offers $1,000 reward for voter fraud tips. Critics call it a form of intimidation.
Follow our Lehigh Valley Live Election blog. EASTON - Signs offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to voter fraud convictions have popped up around Easton. At the South Side Senior Center, Mark Willis -- constable for the 10th ward -- thought they were inappropriate. After consulting with the elections attorney on site, Willis yanked it out of the ground. "It's something that might be intimidating or considered intimidating, to dissaude voters from coming in and placing their votes," Willis said. The signs -- which were also spotted at the Easton Area Neighborhood Center -- were made up by a group called Pennsylvania Commercial Action Network. PACAN, which describes itself as a non-profit and non-partisan business advocacy group…
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Joyce Block, 90, was part of the lawsuit against Pennsylvania’s Voter ID law and said she isn’t giving up, even after a state court upheld the law.
A Doylestown great-grandmother involved in the lawsuit against Pennsylvania’s Voter ID law said she is not giving up, despite a state court’s ruling Wednesday. Joyce Block said she was disgusted by the state court’s upholding of the law which requires Pennsylvania voters to show an approved identification card before they can vote. “This is disgraceful. They disenfranchise so many people, and I’m just thoroughly disgusted,” Block said Wednesday morning. “I’m glad we’re going to appeal it. It isn’t over yet.” Block, who is 90, tried to get an identification card from the PennDOT office in Dublin, Bucks County, but was denied. Her birth certificate and Social Security card are in her maiden name, Joyce Lucille Altman, but her Medicare card …
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Tell us what you think of the court ruling on Pennsylvania's Voter ID law
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Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Commonwealth Court ruled Wednesday morning not to stop Pennsylvania's controversial new voter identification law from going into effect. Judge Robert Simpson of Nazareth will not grant an injunction that would have halted the law requiring each voter to show a valid photo ID. Opponents are expected to file an appeal within a day or two to the state Supreme Court as the Nov. 6 presidential election looms,according to the Associated Press. The challenge to the law was brought by voter advocacy groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the NAACP. Pennsylvania passed a law in March requiring all registered voters to show a valid and “acceptable” photo ID before voting. This is one of the strictest voter ID laws in the nation. …
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
A Lehigh Valley native is in the national spotlight as he decides a case involving Pennsylvania's controversial Voter ID law
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Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Judge Robert E. Simpson of Pennsylvania's Commonwealth Court - a Lehigh Valley native - is the man who will decide a case challenging the state's controversial Voter ID law. Simpson, 60, graduated from Freedom High School in Bethlehem and lives in Nazareth. He's known as a fair-minded jurist who makes decisions based on the law rather than political ideology. Judge Simpson:
Monday, August 13, 2012
Some Pa. voters may be eligible for alternative ballots - a potential loophole in the state's controversial new Voter ID law.
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Monday, August 13, 2012
While we wait for a ruling this week on the controversial Voter ID bill, there appears to be a loophole, according to Philly.com, in the form of the alternative ballot. The alternative ballot is basically an absentee ballot for those with a disability or who are older than 65 and who have a polling place deemed inaccessible by the County Board of Elections. Although the application for absentee ballot now asks for your driver's license number, Social Security number or other acceptable form of identification, the alternative ballot application does not ask for that. If you are planning on voting by absentee ballot or alternative ballot, be sure to plan ahead. Applications for either must be received no later than 5 p.m. on Oct. 30 and the …
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Columnist headed to the only Driver's License Center in Lehigh County that issues IDs for voters.
I spent a recent afternoon in an experiment to see how long it might take to get a voter’s photo ID from the PennDOT Driver's License Center off Airport Road. I’ll tell you the results in a minute. It’s an important question because according to Pennsylvania’s Department of State, about 31,000 registered voters in the Lehigh Valley are without a current driver’s license or state issued non-driver ID that will enable them to vote in the Nov. 6 presidential election. Some of those folks have other official photo identification that will be accepted at the polls because they are a government employee, a member of the military, a university student or a nursing home patient or employee. All those IDs, so long as they haven’t expired -- plus …
Friday, August 3, 2012
Opponents of new Voter ID law say some PennDOT workers don't know the details well enough to help ensure residents have correct identification for the polls
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Friday, August 3, 2012
By Jared Sichel | PA Independent HARRISBURG — Opponents of Pennsylvania’s new voter ID law said state employees are not giving correct information to people seeking identification as part of the voter registration process. This theme pervaded the plaintiffs’ testimonies about employees at the state Department of Transportation given during the fifth day of court hearings at the Commonwealth Court here. Lawyers representing 10 Pennsylvania voters argued this week that because some PennDOT employees don’t know the details of the law, the state cannot fully implement its own legislation before the November elections. In March, Pennsylvania became the ninth state to require photo ID as a condition of voting. The law states that people who don’…
Amend Wun
9:44 am on Friday, November 16, 2012
@Carl- the free IDs were only offered up a few weeks prior to the election and only as a reaction to the fact that voters would have incurred a fee otherwise. I haven't yet heard that those IDs are still being offered since this legislation was put on hold. And it's still incumbent on those seeking to enact this legislation to prove the need. How would presenting an ID keep dead people, felons … more ›