Plan would assure integrity of elections

4:31 p.m. EDT, June 18, 2011

Contrary to the consistently disproven, worn out and failed liberal arguments of groups such as the NAACP and the American Civil Liberties Union, my Pennsylvania Voter Identification Protection Act (House Bill 934) is a common-sense safeguard that will only disenfranchise integrity-deficient individuals seeking to perpetuate fraud and corruption at the polls.

Pennsylvania has a long and ongoing history of documented voter fraud — pre-dating even the frequently forged signature of Mickey Mouse to at least the election of 1918.

Of course, no statewide analysis of voter fraud would be complete without briefly documenting the deeply rooted influence of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.

For starters, in May 2009, a six-month FBI investigation led to forgery and election fraud charges against seven Pittsburgh area ACORN employees. In October 2008, Philadelphia's deputy city commissioner submitted approximately 8,000 fraudulent ACORN-collected voter registration forms for investigation.

Also in October 2008, another ACORN canvasser was arrested in York County for, according to new reports, submitting more than 100 fraudulent voter registrations "on at least 19 applications he randomly picked names out of the phone book and registered them."

Massive or diminutive, every illegally counted vote cancels out the vote of legitimate voters and thereby further disenfranchises future participation, because of serious questions regarding whether our individual right to vote actually matters.

Expert testimony presented to the House State Government Committee earlier this spring confirmed that requiring valid photo ID at the polls, as provided for by H.B. 934, can prevent the four most widely documented types of voter fraud: impersonation at the polls, fictitious registrations, double voting, and voting by illegal aliens.

These conclusions coincide with the bipartisan findings of the 2005 Commission on Federal Elections headed by President Jimmy Carter and Secretary of State James Baker: "The electoral system cannot inspire public confidence if no safeguards exist to deter fraud or to conform the identity of voters. Photo IDs currently are needed to board a plane, enter federal buildings, and cash a check. Voting is equally important."

As the U.S. Supreme Court also recognized, when it upheld the constitutionality of Indiana's voter identification law, flagrant examples of voter fraud "documented throughout the nation's history … demonstrate that not only is the risk of voter fraud real, but that it could affect the outcome of a close election."

Furthermore, as the Seventh Court of Appeals pointed out in the Indiana case, the lack of actual prosecutions for voter fraud impersonations at the polls can be explained because fraud cannot be easily detected without the availability of the necessary tools such as voter photo identification.

There is also no shortage of academic studies proving that requiring voter photo identification has had absolutely no disenfranchising impact on voter turnout for minority, poor or elderly voters.

In fact, in Indiana and Georgia, where showing valid photo ID at the polls is now law, voter turnout has increased to record levels, especially among the elderly, minorities and Democrats.

Currently in Pennsylvania it is impossible to board a commercial airplane, cash a paycheck, operate a motor vehicle or even purchase season passes to an amusement park without displaying valid photo ID. Guaranteeing the integrity of our state's election process deserves no less than equal protection under the law.

Law-abiding citizens, who take the time to actively participate in the election process, deserve the assurance that their right to vote is protected and that every informed vote they cast will be counted.

Authenticating voter ownership by requiring the display of valid photo ID is precisely what enacting H.B. 934 will accomplish.

State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, a Republican who represents the 12th District in Butler County, is majority chairman of the House State Government Committee.

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