Voting on horizon for photo ID bill

CENTER CITY - March 13, 2012 (WPVI) -- The debate continues in Harrisburg over a proposed bill to require almost all voters to present a photo ID every time they vote.

Strawberry Mansion resident Perlene Glenn says thumbs down on the Pennsylvania Republican plan to require a photo ID every time a person goes to the polls. She says too many people in her North Philadelphia community don't have picture IDs.

"I think it's thousands of people that don't have a picture ID," Glenn said.

Across the nation, this year Republican-controlled statehouses like Pennsylvania's are pushing through these picture ID laws, allegedly to prevent voter fraud, but Democrats say this is a transparent move to suppress the votes of groups that normally vote Democrat.

Republicans deny it.

"We're not trying to lock out anyone. I'm trying to make sure that everyone who shows up at a polling place is the person who says that they are," GOP lawyer Linda Kerns said.

Those most likely to vote for President Obama and the Democrats may not be the specific targets of the ID laws but activists like the ACLU, NAACP, and Committee of 70 say the laws will impact those groups the most.

"Groups like senior citizens, minority groups, low income voters, disabled voters, and young students," Ellen Kaplan of the Committee of 70 said.

The ACLU is planning to mount a legal challenge to the new Pennsylvania law, claiming it's unconstitutional and will potentially disenfranchise tens of thousands of voters in this highly competitive swing state this fall.

The vote for the proposed bill was supposed to come tonight but has now been put off until tomorrow.

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philadelphia, pennsylvania, local/state, vernon odom

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