A hotly debated bill would require voters to show a government-issued photo ID before they could cast a ballot. The bill is now facing changes including allowing a longer list of acceptable IDs, a key Pennsylvania state senator said Friday. The expected amendment could include work IDs, college student IDs and, for elderly voters, expired driver’s licenses, said Senate State Government Committee Chairman Charles McIlhinney, R-Bucks.
Current law in Pennsylvania requires identification only from people voting in a polling place for the first time, but it does not require a photo ID. Acceptable forms of ID can include a firearms permit, a current utility bill, a bank statement or a paycheck as long as they have a name and address. However, a poll worker can still request that a voter show identification at any time.
Watch NBC10 @ Issue on Oct. 23 at 11:30 a.m., as the head of the Democratic party in Pennsylvania, and one of the leaders of the Republican party in Pa. tackle questions about voter ID’s. Democratic party chair Jim Burn and Republican deputy chair Renee Amoore have very different views on the implications of requiring every voter to produce a photo ID at the polls.
The voter ID bill that passed the Republican-controlled House in June over the loud objections of Democrats was too stringent, McIlhinney said, adding that a requirement that some form of identification be required is still appropriate to guard against voter fraud.
“We’re looking to ensure that there is a voter ID requirement, that people need to produce some type of identification to ensure the one person, one vote rule is not violated,” he said.
The bill’s sponsor, House State Government Committee Chairman Daryl Metcalfe, R-Butler, did not immediately respond to a telephone message left at his office Friday.
But McIlhinney said he is working with Metcalfe on a compromise bill, and that he expects Gov. Tom Corbett, also a Republican, will sign any voter ID requirement that passes the Legislature.
Full Article: Pa. Debating New Voter ID Rules | NBC Philadelphia.