Hundreds of protesters rally on steps of Pa. Capitol, set stage for hearing on voter ID law

Last edited Tue Jul 24, 2012, 09:44 PM - Edit history (1)

Hundreds of protesters rally on steps of Pa. Capitol, set stage for hearing on voter ID law

Hundreds of demonstrators descended on Pennsylvania’s Capitol on Tuesday to protest a tough new voter ID law, launching a daylong political drama that set the stage for a state court hearing on a lawsuit seeking to prevent the law from taking effect this year.

The protesters — civil-rights activists, union members and others — chanted, waved signs and cheered as speakers portrayed the mandatory photo ID requirement as part of a cynical effort by Republicans to suppress voters turnout and gain an advantage in a presidential election year.

“They know that, when people don’t vote, they win. ... We’re going to stop it and stand at the borders of Pennsylvania and say ‘everybody in America has a right to vote,’” said Pennsylvania AFL-CIO President Rick Bloomingdale.

Hilary O. Shelton, senior vice president for advocacy at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, noted that even supporters of the law — one of the toughest in the nation — cannot cite any cases of voter impersonation in Pennsylvania.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/hundreds-of-protesters-rally-on-steps-of-pa-capitol-set-stage-for-hearing-on-voter-id-law/2012/07/24/gJQApaNb7W_story.html





Demonstrators hold signs at an NAACP-organized rally on the steps of the Capitol in Harrisburg on Tuesday to protest Pennsylvania's new voter identification law. (AP Photo/Marc Levy)

http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/local/item/41913


Lawsuit against PA voter ID law going forward this week
On Wednesday, Pennsylvania's new voter ID laws will face a challenge in the state courts led by civil rights groups. The Justice Department on Monday launched an investigation into the laws, which make it more difficult for 758,000 mostly lower-income residents to get to the polls. The plaintiff in the state case is Viviette Applewhite, a 93-year-old woman whose ID was in her purse when it was recently stolen.

The attorneys defending Pennsylvania's laws admit that there have been no investigations or prosecutions of in-person voter fraud in the state. Furthermore, as guest host Michael Eric Dyson argued on Tuesday's The Ed Show, they do not know of any such investigation or prosecutions in other states.

"If you look at how poll taxes were used, they were used as obstacles to prevent poor voters from being able to participate," said Hilary Shelton, head of the Washington chapter of the NAACP. "Now you're paying a price—a dollar figure—to participate in the electoral process. It is indeed a poll tax."

http://leanforward.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/24/12934784-lawsuit-against-pa-voter-id-law-going-forward-this-week?lite

video at link from the Ed Show