The Voter ID Bill

I am not a lawyer, nor do I play one on TV.  That being said, I am the majority inspector of elections in Lower Merion 8-2 and having read all 29 pages of HB 934 the voter ID bill suspect I will have to become one to follow the minutia in this unnecessary bill.

The safeguards we currently have in place are more than enough to avoid voter fraud.  When a voter comes in to vote, they proceed to the tables where the inspectors and clerks have the voter rolls.  They tell us their name, we look up their name, cover the copy of their signature, which appears upside down from their vantage point, and have them sign the roll.  If their signature does not match we already ask for ID.  If they have no ID they can fill out a provisional ballot.  The constable is there if there is any problem, which in my 25 years of working the polls we have never had.  I can not find in my research any instances of voter fraud at the polls in our state.  There are a few examples of fraud, but they have to do with voter registration, which this bill does not address.

In this bill, you do not need to show a picture ID to cast an absentee ballot, so why should you need one to cast a ballot in person?

The PA state assembly is asking the men and women who virtually volunteer their time to staff the polling places, to incur the ire of the citizens of this state as they are kept waiting while we jump through the hoops of this bill.  Do our representatives know how long it takes to fill out a provisional ballot (which does not assure you your vote will be counted, since you have to travel to the county board of elections within 6 days to prove you are you) and the extra paperwork involved for the staff?

No, it doesn't take a lot of time to ask someone for their ID and for them to take it out and show it, but as you wait for everyone to do this, the time it takes to vote goes up appreciably. It does not matter if I have seen you at the polls for 20 years or are my next door neighbor.  I still have to ask to see your id.  People are busy. They steal the time to come to vote on their way to work, at lunchtime, before or after school or on their way home, before seeing their families.  They do not want the added time it takes to “card” everyone or ask " your papers please" especially when the system we have works just fine.