The state said they have not investigated voter fraud. They see and hear no evil, and so can't speak of it. If the state did not investigate tax fraud, they wouldn't know about that either. In Philly, for example, murder, rape, and robbery are everyday, common occurrences, but we argue that those same people obey voter law? Showing ID is so basic to protecting the process from those who would abuse it, only those hoping for fraud could oppose it. My bedridden parent will be using an absentee ballot, as do many who can't get to the polls. There's no impediment to voting, and even those who vote illegally will find a way around this, if they apply themselves.

J.Q.P. - Dope despite hiding his identity while advocating voter I.D.

My dear Teorlenko, I hope you have a better argument then using my using a pseudonym? While I have no problem with showing my ID when voting, or anytime it's appropriate, I do use discretion when on a public forum populated by all types of rude, threatening crazies. True, without ID, I could be anyone, just like the illegal voters.

According to the Intelligencer newspaper. If your driver's license photo ID is older than 1 year by election day, it is no longer valid for voting under the new "voter fraud" law. I've been voting since the 70's. Since I got my photo drivers license over a year ago. I guess I can't vote now.

I truly hope Smedley dosen't reproduce!!!!!!!!

Dear Smedley, if your license expired more than a year ago, it's not considered valid ID for in-person voting. If you chose not to renew it, you could use an absentee or "alternative ballot" (for those over 65). See www.votespa.com for a down-loadable form.

According to the PA Democrat site, to use an absentee ballot, you need *ONE* of the following:
a.Your driver’s license number
b.The last four digits of your social security number (if you don’t have a driver’s license)
c. A copy of any photo ID that would be acceptable if you were voting in person
d. A non‐photo driver’s license or other non‐photo ID issued by PennDOT (if you have a religious objection to being photographed)

Obviously, anyone intent on voting illegally will still be able to do so, but with a little more effort than in the past.

freeandequalpa, I agree the state should investigate voter fraud. Even the Black Panthers, armed with baseball bats at a polling place, were ignored by the state. Where there's smoke, there's often fire, but suspected voter fraud IS ignored. Tax fraud is different as the state is strongly motivated to separate you from your salary, but doesn't want to spend much to stop voter fraud. ID is a cheap and easy, partial solution to securing the process.

freeandequalpa, right! That's why I mentioned the Alternative Ballot, for those who can't get to the polls. Designed for the 65+ crowd, the application form has simple requirements. Yes, people will still be able to vote fraudulently, but ID does make them work a little harder, and I suspect most won't bother.

Quite simply, the Commonwealth has stipulated to the court that voter fraud has never been investigated or prosecuted in Pennsylvania. Never is the longest period you could imagine and defines the nature and scope of this imaginary problem.

Why has voter fraud never been investigated or prosecuted? Because it has never occurred or been reported to legal authorities. Voter fraud is irrational because it is illegal and punishable by five years in jail and a $50,000 fine.

The Voter I.D. was enacted solely to suppress the vote of a demographic of elderly, poor, disabled and urban voters. There is no other reason.

Voting is nothing like buying cigarettes, alcohol, prescriptions or pornography. It is not like boarding an airplane, taking out a library book or charging items to a credit card. Voting is a constitutional right.

Blogging can be done in a secretive manner because you can hide you I.D. as John Q. Public has done. He doesn't want people to know who he is or what he stands for. So, hiding behind his pseudonym, JPQ is advocating, surrepititiously for voter suppression. He is advocating that a select few should be able to vote.

Why is this? Evidently Republicans believe fervently that they have no chance of being elected or re-elected unless they cheat. This cheating includes voter suppression, anonymous donations of unlimited amounts of money even from foreign corporations, suppression of public sector workers, unions and the working class.

Jim Holland Jr. The World's Greatest Psychic Today is August 4, 2012 Mitt Romney Lost the 2012 Presidential Election to President Barack Obama. The 2012 Presidential Election is over.

Dear Citizen Feodor, the state said they did not investigate voter fraud. Yup, not even the Black Panthers armed with baseball bats merited an investigation, let alone prosecution. If you don't investigate, you will be rewarded with no evidence of wrong doing. You assume we, who show no regard for the law when we routinely rape, rob and kill, will selectively obey the voting law? I think too much of the process to make that assumption.

The case in Pennsylvania state court did not begin well for proponents of the new voter ID law, with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania acknowledging in a stipulation that they could find: "no investigations or prosecutions of in-person voter fraud in Pennsylvania... the parties are not aware of any in-person voter fraud in Pennsylvania.

The argument for the new voter ID law further disintegrated when Rebecca Oyler, director of policy at Pennsylvania's department of state, said that the Commonwealth had drastically underestimated the number of voters currently without an acceptable ID.

A deputy secretary at the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation also said the state would not be able to process photo ID cards for the thousands that needed them in time for the fall election.

But it was the testimony from Jonathan Marks, commissioner of the Bureau of Commissions, Elections and Legislation, that appeared to put the nail in the coffin. Marks testified that the law violated, in a number of ways, the Pennsylvania Constitution's clause that elections should be "free and equal."

Yes, Feodor, if you ignore voter fraud - don't at least investigate obvious problems (like carrying a bat to the polls while threatening voters) - you can argue it doesn't exist. If we stop tax-fraud investigations, we will get the same result. Don't investigate, and you will see no evil. Sounds like a plan.

Another biased patch article. The 3 main sources in this article are the philadelphia inquirer, the ny times and nyu. Sprinkled in are mentions of aclu and naacp. ALL LIB MOUTHPIECES! A fair reading of this article would make one think that evil repub's are forcing upright, poor nonwhites and granny to go to the ends of the earth to vote. Stop the editorials and report the news. If you cant do that write about the weather, food or fishing reports. Just chill with your agenda

Actually the tidbits you suggest are myths, never documented, urban legends. Evidently you are unable to distinguish the difference between fact and fiction.

In reality, the only voter fraud ever prosecuted in Pennsylvania has been by election officials and politicians.

The defense of the Voter I.D. law went very poorly for the Commonwealth last week. It has nothing to do with voter i.d. but rather to do with voter suppression and the law will be struck down, unenforceable in its present state and unable to be implemented in time for the 2012 elections.

The Commonwealth could provide no evidence whatsoever of voter fraud and although you can blog lies, myths and legends......you can't even utter them in court. That's seems to be the toughest thing for bigots to understand.

Ignorance, plain and simple.

The big deal is half the people sitting behind the table checking your ID have no idea what a valid ID is... I was told my PA drivers license wouldn't be acceptable by the morons in my municipality. Make it ridiculously clear to the poll workers on what is and is not acceptable... I'm surprised half of them are able to tie shoes and even feed themselves, let alone be given the authority to decide if someone is eligible to vote. They are almost as bad as the TSA, this guy says it's ok, but on the way back they have a problem with it... I hope this problem only exists in Collegeville, otherwise there will be a lot of people not allowed to vote even with valid ID.

People who believe that more regulations will stem any "voter" fraud should by extension believe that tighter gun control laws will reduce the amount of gun-related violence.

Why don't they hit voter fraud at the source: when you register to vote? Even though there haven't been any documented cases of voter fraud, they don't exactly make it hard to sign up. Just fill out the slip and mail it in.

Or how about voting like Oregon--vote-by-mail? It increases the ease of voting (especially for those who don't leave their house), and Oregon has actually had little to no voter fraud since it took place.

Freeandequalpa, thanks for the link! It reads, "If you have a disability, or are at least 65 years of age, " so it is "either/or" not "and." You left that tidbit out. You need not be disabled, which should be a big relief. I know for a fact that it is easy to get this ballot if you are over 65+, as so many have hip, knee or other mobility problems.

"...myths, never documented..." Perhaps you are new to this country. That incident received national attention and the video, complete with audio, was played thousands of times on major networks and cable. The video is still available on line, but I'd advise that if you don't want to see voter fraud in PA, don't look. That way you can continue to say that voter fraud is the ONLY crime that doesn't exist.

What's the big deal indeed ...

Show id. Its simple. Dems wish to confuse and play games. Id. Simple. Stop the petty excuse making show id. Dems as well as repubs should all share a common value regarding the protection of voting. If id protects a real or percieved threat to the voting tally, do it. It is easy, stop your excuses.

It's no longer who votes that count. But WHO counts the vote. When we had the old mechanical machines they were secure and hard to hack. Now that we have computer voting machines with no verifiable paper trail the vote can easily be manipulated. Do you think they would actually let peoples vote decide who wins. Watch the film "Uncounted - The new math of american elections." There's a good chance they already know who is going to win.

The big deal, of course, is the election provision in the state's Constitution: "Elections shall be free and equal; and no power, civil or military, shall at any time interfere to prevent the free exercise of the right of suffrage." To paraphrase House Leader Rep. Mike Turzai, much to his dismay I might add: Court ruling striking down the Voter ID law. Done.

The trial judge who enjoined the Wisconsin photo ID law held that the Crawford case did not govern the dispute before him:

"The defense submits that the court should be guided by the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in Crawford . . . in which the court considered challenge to the Indiana voter ID law. The Crawford decision has very little application to the dispute now before this court, however, for three primary reasons. First, this case is founded upon the Wisconsin Constitution which expressly guarantees the right to vote while Crawford was based upon the U.S. Constitution which offers not such guarantee. Second, the Indiana law is less rigid that [the Wisconsin law], and as noted by the U.S. Supreme Court, offered alternative voting opportunities to voters who lacked the photo ID. Finally, the Crawford case came to the court based upon a flawed factual record lacking the substantial evidence that has been offered by the plaintiffs in this action." http://media.jsonline.com/documents/Voter+ID+injunction.pdf (p.9).

Substitute "Pennsylvania" for "Wisconsin" and this easily could be a paragraph from Judge Simpson's upcoming opinion if he rules in favor of the Petitioners.

"Elections shall be free and equal" That's a joke. If elections shall be free and equal why do independents and minor party candidates have to collect 10 times more signatures for the same office to get on the ballot than republicans or democrats? This year anyone who is not a republican or democrat must collect over 20,000 valid signatures from registered voters just to appear as a choice in November. Even if you do collect the required amount of signatures the party's will challenge the signatures, threaten you with a large lawsuit, and kick you off.
Free and Equal huh, Not in Pennsylvania.

I can't believe the repubs would change the law to elect a 10 year non-tax paying, grandson of a Mexican polygamist.