Pennsylvania, which cemented itself as a true swing state in the last few presidential elections, does not currently require voter ID at the polls, other than for first-time voters. The rumblings about the need for Pennsylvania voter ID are intensifying, and yet another in a long string of bills was just introduced.
Social media punditry — by self-proclaimed experts — would lead the casual observer to believe that voter ID is the answer to all election integrity woes in the United States. While requiring voters to prove they are who they say they are does make elections more secure, the reality tends to be more complicated, especially in Pennsylvania. The state’s elected Republicans should understand that voter ID by itself will not solve Pennsylvania’s election integrity challenges — larger reform is needed.
While the Keystone State actually has a voter ID law on the books, signed into law in 2012 by Republican Gov. Tom Corbett, it has never been enforced due to lawsuits immediately filed against it, eventually resulting in a court order declaring it unconstitutional. The legal hijinks that resulted in the invalidation of the law irritated the Republicans in the Pennsylvania legislature, resulting in many new proposals for Voter ID laws that never made it past the drawing board, thwarted by Democrats in the legislature and by Democrat governors.
Hellbound and Down 