SB 514

This is part of a press release that arrived in the inbox today. I can't find it online to link to the entire thing and it's a little long to post in it's entirety. Here is the excerpt:

A coalition of voting rights organizations expressed alarm over a proposed Pennsylvania bill that seeks to require all voters to show photo identification at every election. The voting rights advocates, including Advancement Project, a national civil rights organization with voter protection efforts in Pennsylvania , strongly oppose the legislation, and urge state policymakers to challenge the bill and hold public hearings before taking any action to move this legislation.

On March 2, Sen. Jane C. Orie (R-McCandless) introduced Senate Bill 514 (SB 514), which would require all voters, at every election, to provide a government-issued photo ID, or two forms of other approved ID, one of which must be a photo ID. This bill has now been listed on the March 24, 2009 agenda of the Pennsylvania Senate State Government Committee. If passed, the bill would infringe the voting rights of Pennsylvanians, particularly those among historically disenfranchised communities, including elderly, low-income, disabled, and minority citizens who often do not possess these types of identification.

“Many people, including legislators, may not realize that as many as 25 percent of African Americans, 18 percent of American senior citizens, and 15 percent of low-income Americans simply do not have the types of current photo ID required by this bill,” said Kathryn Boockvar , Advancement Project’s Pennsylvania senior attorney. “As nonpartisan advocates across the state, we believe that Pennsylvania should be making it easier for our citizens to vote and increasing voting access rather than constructing additional hurdles, as this bill does.”