Senate approves bill to require ID from voters
12/14/2005, 11:36 p.m. ET
By MARC LEVY
The Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) ? A bill that would require Pennsylvania voters to show some form identification on election day or be forced to cast a provisional ballot passed the state Senate on Wednesday night.
The Republican-sponsored bill was approved without debate, 29-21, and was sent to the House, which has already approved a bill with similar identification requirements.
However, a spokeswoman for Gov. Ed Rendell and an American Civil Liberties Union official criticized it as putting up obstacles for voters.
"The governor is concerned that identification requirements may discourage people from voting and eventually disenfranchise people," said Rendell's press secretary, Kate Philips.
If the bill becomes law, the identification requirements would be in force for the November 2006 election, when Pennsylvania voters will elect a governor, U.S. senator and most members of the state Legislature.
"What we want is to give people a reason to have 100 percent confidence in the system, that everyone who's eligible to vote had a real chance to vote ... and to only vote once," said Erik Arneson, the chief of staff for the Senate's Republican leader, David J. Brightbill of Lebanon County.
Currently, only people voting in a polling place for the first time must show identification. Under the legislation, every voter would have to show election workers a form of identification such as a valid driver's license; U.S. passport; a student, employee or government ID; a county voter registration card; a firearm permit; a current utility bill; or a current bank statement, paycheck or government check.
If the voter cannot produce such identification, or if the identification is challenged by an election judge, the voter could cast a provisional ballot, which are typically used when an individual's name does not appear on voter rolls.
Elections officials later decide whether provisional ballots are valid.
Provisional ballots cast under the legislation would not be counted if the ballot is challenged at a later hearing and the voter who cast it does not produce identification to the county board of elections.
Larry Frankel, the legislative director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania, warned that the legislation could lead to long lines at polling places and higher costs for counties that must process greater numbers of provisional ballots.
The legislation also would extend the counting of absentee ballots sent from overseas until seven days following the election if the absentee ballot is postmarked no later than the day before the election.
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