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 …
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Will Sylianteng, candidate for State House, 151st District, commends the Supreme Court and the Commonwealth Court for putting voter ID law on hold.
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Wednesday, October 3, 2012
I commend both the Supreme Court and the Commonwealth Court for putting a halt to the Voter ID law, at least for this year. It is clear that the Courts recognized that the Voter ID law was rushed through the legislature by my opponent and his colleagues in order to suppress Democractic votes. The right to vote is a precious right that we must all be diligent in protecting. Legislators like my opponent should not attempt to manipulate the law for their own political gains. I urge the people of the 151st to choose a new way forward and vote for leaders that will work for Pennsylvania not for their own agenda. Signed, Will Sylianteng, Candidate for State House, 151st District
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Find out what people are saying online about Tuesday's ruling on Pennsylvania's controversial Voter ID Law.
Most Tweets are happy with the ruling, but some people are frustrated and others still appear confused by it all.
Judge Robert Simpson ruled Tuesday that implementation of Pennsylvania's new Voter ID law be put on hold until after the Nov. 6 general election.
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Tuesday, October 2, 2012
A judge ruled today that Pennsylvania's tough new Voter ID Law should be put on hold until after the Nov. 6 general election, according to an Associated Press report. The ruling can be appealed to the state Supreme Court, which said it would expedite any further action in the case since Election Day is just five weeks away. Do you agree with the ruling? Tell us in the comments section below. Commonwealth Court Judge Robert Simpson heard two days of testimony last week, as directed by the Supreme Court, to determine whether the state has made it easy enough to get a photo ID in order to vote. Opponents say the law, and the process to get an ID, disenfranchises voters. Supporters say the law will prevent voter fraud - but that justification …
Monday, October 1, 2012
Any one of seven forms of ID are sufficient to get a new county-issued voter ID card.
Montgomery County on Monday officially introduced its previously announced program to issue voter identification cards that comply with the state's controversial Voter ID law. The understated, white, credit-card sized IDs will be available beginning Wednesday, Oct. 3 to all registered voters who live in Montgomery County. "This is not a ticket to vote," said Commissioner Bruce Castor, who pointed out that those presenting the identification at a polling place on Nov. 6 where they do not appear in the registration rolls will still be unable to vote. Those seeking to obtain the identification must present one of seven forms of identification displaying their name and address: Applicants must also sign an affidavit affirming that they are a U…
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
The Committee of Seventy claims the new county IDs will cause 'chaos' at polls; Montgomery County says poll workers will be trained to recognize Parkhouse-issued IDs.
As the state's controversial Voter ID law began its latest judicial review Tuesday, Montgomery County said it was preparing to train the county's poll workers to recognize and accept a new county-issued form of identification that it expects to begin distributing to registered voters next week. Exploiting an apparent loophole in the wording of the law that allows "care facilities" to distribute valid photo identification, the county plans to issue ID cards to any eligible county resident under the auspices of the Parkhouse nursing care facility in Upper Providence Township. Service locations, documentation requirements, and other specific implementation details of the county's plan are expected later this week, but one area civic group …
Monday, September 24, 2012
A state consumer group is urging area colleges and universities to offer voter ID-valid cards to students.
UPDATE – Tuesday, Sept. 25: Two of the colleges listed by PennPIRG as either not having voter ID-law compliant student IDs or as giving inconsistent information or not providing an explicit answer have contacted Patch with new information. "Chestnut Hill College has been working tirelessly to ensure that our students will have the proper identification to go to the polls in November," said Linda Mixon, media relations manager for Chestnut Hill College, in an email to Patch. According to Mixon, the following actions have been taken by the college to ensure that students have the necessary information about the law and will have the proper identification necessary to vote: According to one Patch user, the following was recently sent to …
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Tuesday's Pa. Supreme Court ruling on a challenge to the Voter ID law now puts the burden on the commonwealth to prove that no voters will be disenfranchised by the photo ID requirement.
It's now up to the Commonwealth to prove that no voters will be disenfranchised by a controversial new Voter ID law after Tuesday's Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling. The high court sent a challenge to the law back down to Commonwwealth Court where a judge has until Oct. 2 to determine if adequate measures are in place for voters to get a free photo ID in time for the Nov. 6 general election Three GOP and one Democratic justice made up the 4-2 majority in the ruling. One of the two dissenting Democrats on the panel accused the court of "punting" and said the law should be blocked now. The court shifted the burden in the case from challengers to the Commonwealth. "We are not satisfied with a mere predictive judgment based primarily on the …
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
A judge now has until Oct. 2 to issue a new opinion on Pennsylvania's Voter ID challenge following a state Supreme Court ruling Tuesday.
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Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Pennsylvania's Supreme Court today sent a challenge to the state's new Voter ID law back to a lower court with instructions for that judge to reconsider issuing an injunction. It's not yet clear how the court decision will affect or possibly block implementation of the law for the Nov. 6 general election, according to a Philly.com report. The decision gave Commonwealth Court Judge Robert Simpson -- a former Northampton County judge and a Nazareth resident -- until Oct. 2 to file a new opinion on the case. Simpson upheld the law last month. The Supreme Court instructed Simpson "to consider whether the procedures being used for deployment" of ID cards comports with the law as written -- which, in testimony before the Supreme Court, appeared …
Some would-be voters without their birth certificate will no longer need to make two trips to PennDOT offices to obtain photo ID, thanks to a new electronic procedure.
A new procedure expected to be in place at PennDOT Driver's License centers by the end of this week will elliminate a problem in which prospective voters needed to make two trips to the agency in order to secure a form of identification that will be accepted at polling places on Nov. 6. Previously, according to the Committee of Seventy, a non-profit, Philadelphia-based "think tank" group, voters who arrived at those PennDOT offices with a valid Social Security card but without an official copy of their birth certificate needed to wait about 10 days to have their birth records certified by the Department of Health. Only then could they return to a PennDOT office, with the birth records and the rest of the required documentation to get a …
John Q. Public
8:11 am on Friday, November 23, 2012
Sweden's workers pay the highest taxes in the world!!! That model wouldn't work here, since only 1/2 U.S. population pay ANY federal tax. Yes, the 47% who avoid federal tax demand much, but you can only squeeze the working class just so much to pay for it all. more ›