Another Voter ID Post

Three recent newspaper articles point out three groups that will have particular difficulty getting the right kind of id to vote in November:

Women ("Woman's ordeal shows voter id pitfalls," by Bob Warner, Inquirer 7/17).  Our friends at PennDOT require a paper trail for any name change.  Most women change their name when they marry which will require a marriage license as well as a birth certificate for those who are trying to get a state photo id.  Those who change their names more than once have a more difficult task. 

The elderly (Analysis:  "ID law will most affect Philly voters over 80," by Bob Warner, Inquirer 7/17).  According to this article nearly 1 in 4 Philadelphia voters over the age of 80 don't have the right kind of id to vote this November. 

State employees ("State ID badges will need to be modified for voter identification use," by Jan Murphy, Patriot News 7/17).  State employee id badges don't have an expiration date, one of the criteria needed to be considered an acceptable form on id for the November election. 

I don't like the new Voter ID law -- it's too restrictive and there doesn't seem to be a voter fraud problem.  Perhaps it would be more accurate to say the new voter id regulations won't address any extant voter fraud.  If the law is in effect this November I think the real tipping point will be when a handful of influentials get blistering phone calls from their elderly mothers who were turned away at the voting booth.  Women were willing to fight for the right to vote less than 100 years ago.  Women over 80 will be old enough to remember hearing about the marches and imprisonments of the suffragettes.  Angry old ladies are good press.  And most people with elderly mothers are not going to be happy with those phone calls.