Justice Dept. asking if Pa. voter ID law is legal
HARRISBURG, Pa. - President Barack Obama's Department of Justice is looking at whether Pennsylvania's tough new voter law requiring photo identification complies with federal laws and on Monday asked the state's top election official and a chief supporter of the law for a long list of information about it.
The law is the subject of a hotly contested debate. Democrats say it is an election year stunt to steal the White House by taking away the right to vote from minorities, the poor or others who might otherwise vote for Obama and Democrats. Republicans say it is necessary to prevent voting fraud.
The law is being challenged in court as unconstitutional, and opponents of it have repeatedly pointed to the lack of any track record of fraud to justify a requirement that could confuse or disenfranchise countless voters who are unable to get eligible IDs or are unaware of the requirement.
The letter, from Assistant U.S. Attorney General Thomas Perez, in charge of the department's civil rights division, made 16 information requests to Secretary of State Carol Aichele as federal lawyers study the legality of the law, one of the nation's toughest.
In particular, Perez cited Section 2 of the federal Voting Rights Act, which prohibits "any voting standard, practice, or procedure that results in the denial or abridgement of the right of any citizen to vote on account of race, color, or membership in a language minority group," the Department of Justice's website said.
A spokesman for Gov. Tom Corbett, a Republican, said that lawyers in his administration "will be gathering the information and plan to provide it to the Department of Justice."
Among other things, the Department of Justice wants to see if state officials tried to determine how many people do not have legal IDs for voting and what state officials are doing to notify voters about the new requirement.
The law, which goes into effect for the Nov. 6 election, says a voter must show an eligible photo ID card for his or her vote to be counted. It is a significant departure from current law, which asks only people voting in a ward for the first time to show identification, including such non-photo forms as a utility bill or bank statement.
About one-third of Pennsylvania's 8.3 million voters are unaware of the new state photo ID law, and at least 1 million lack the documents they need to take to the polls for their votes to count, lawyers challenging the law say.
Meanwhile, Pennsylvania's Department of State said Friday it will offer a special photo ID card for voters who are unable to obtain birth certificates or other documents for non-driver IDs issued by the Department of Transportation. The new card, which will be free and valid for 10 years, will be added to an already long and often complicated list of government and other IDs that have been deemed acceptable under the law.
Corbett signed the Republican-sponsored law in March without a Democratic vote. A hearing in state court is scheduled to begin Wednesday on whether the law should be held up while judges consider a challenge to its constitutional muster.
Pennsylvania, which is tied with Illinois for fifth most electoral votes in the nation, is expected to be crucial in deciding this year's presidential election between Obama and his likely Republican challenger, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
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