Pennsylvania: Republican’s voter-ID remark brings him under political fire | philly.com
Innocent utterance or a major political Freudian slip? Either way, a top House Republican has come under fire for comments he made over the weekend regarding Pennsylvania’s new voter-ID law – comments that critics say prove their contention that the law was motivated by the GOP’s desire to skew presidential elections in its favor. At a state Republican Party meeting in Harrisburg Saturday, House Majority Leader Mike Turzai of Allegheny County listed legislative victories since Republicans regained control of both chambers and the governor’s office. Among them, he said: requiring voters, starting in November, to show an acceptable form of identification at the polls. Turzai then framed the effort in the context of November’s presidential election. “Voter ID, which is going to allow Gov. Romney to win the state of Pennsylvania – done,” Turzai told the crowd, which promptly broke into applause. His comments swiftly began made it onto YouTube, and since then have called into question his – and his party’s – motives in supporting the measure.