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Today in voter ID: Draconian law begets bizarre workaround
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Today in voter ID: Draconian law begets bizarre workaround
As PennDOT driver's license centers are staying open late to accommodate the rush of Philadelphia voters still trying to obtain the necessary ID to vote in November under new statewide voter-ID regulations, Philly Democrat and state Rep. John Sabatina has come up with his own solution: let state representatives and senators distribute the photo ID cards at their district offices. Sabatina is working to introduce a bill to that effect shortly.
On its face, it seems like a problematic approach, to take a specifically apolitical task like the distribution of voter IDs and put it into the hands of offices that answer to politically elected officials — especially if you believe those who say the law was necessary in the first place due to political influence on elections exercised by way of voter fraud.
However, Philly City Commissioner Stephanie Singer says it may not be a bad workaround, given the constraints we're already under —even if it does appear a little odd. "That quirk is forced on us by the law, which is really draconian," she says. And there are many more legislative district offices than PennDOT centers. Singer's office, though it administers elections in the city, is not allowed to issue state-approved photo ID cards; she says representatives' and senators' offices could be the next best thing. "This is a way around it. The law says that state-issued IDs are OK. The question is if IDs issued by the state are OK, then [can the law be interpreted that] IDs issued by state representatives offices are also OK?"
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