HARRISBURG - A political tug of war erupted Tuesday over Pennsylvania's controversial voter photo identification law, with protesters calling for its repeal and a Corbett administration official defending outreach efforts to voters who lack the required ID.
The Capitol rally against the law's requirement that voters show specific photo ID at the polls came before a hearing Tuesday in Commonwealth Court. A coalition of advocacy groups filed a lawsuit seeking an injunction to block the law's implementation while a challenge on whether it meets state constitutional mandates is heard.
Sponsored by the Pennsylvania NAACP, the rally also featured remarks by officials of statewide labor unions and Democratic lawmakers. A banner on a giant inflatable Liberty Bell said "Overturn Act 18."
Pennsylvania Secretary of State Carol Aichele held a press conference afterward to discuss efforts to implement the law and respond to a review by the U.S. Department of Justice into whether the law is legal.
The law requires all voters to show photo ID such as a driver's license or non-driver photo ID, U.S. passports, student ID cards with expiration dates, current military identification or ID cards issued to government employees.
Gov. Tom Corbett and majority Republican lawmakers said the law enacted in March will guard against voter fraud and uphold one-person, one-vote standards. The NAACP and American Civil Liberties Union have said the law is unconstitutional and an effort to keep the young, poor and elderly who supported President Barack Obama in 2008 away from the polls this presidential election year.
"The law spits in the face of all who fought for civil rights in this country," said Sen. Daylin Leach, D-17, King of Prussia, at the rally.
Republicans enacted voter ID laws to reduce the rolls of eligible voters because they couldn't win the election otherwise, said PA NAACP President J. Whyatt Mondesire.
The decision by Ms. Aichele to hold a press conference in a Senate caucus room following the two-hour rally added a note of drama. Senate security guards only allowed the media inside the room while rally-goers in the hallway chanted, "We want in."
The Department of Justice's civil rights division has requested information about Pennsylvania's database of registered voters and PennDOT ID databases of individuals with driver's license, Aichele said.
"We will comply with the request," she said.
Aichele expressed optimism that a special photo ID card to be issued free by her department will assist most voters who don't have the ID specified by the law. Those cards could be available starting next month, she said.
The department will work hard to ensure the accuracy of the vote count and sponsor voter education campaigns to avoid any scenario in which Pennsylvania's vote would be under dispute, Aichele said.
"We don't plan to have hang-ups in this election," she said.