Should a voter be required to prove identity to cast a ballot?
It’s a question that has been argued in Pennsylvania for years — just like it has in other states.
A recent Spotlight PA and Votebeat article looked at how the partisan divide on the issue has narrowed over the years.
Republicans have gotten even more adamant about the idea, especially since the 2020 presidential election when President Donald Trump and many supporters refused to accept that Joe Biden won.
Democrats, meanwhile, have come closer to accepting the idea. The party has long maintained fears that voters — especially minorities who have traditionally supported Democrats — could be disenfranchised by demands they show a state-issued identification card, driver’s license or Real ID.
A new proposal in the state House, however, expands the ways a Pennsylvanian could prove who they are and where they live. It includes things like utility bills or leases or a student ID. If those are not available, a voter could cast a provisional ballot secured by a signed affidavit.
That represents movement on both sides. Twelve Republicans support it as a step toward better ensuring Pennsylvania votes are cast by registered Pennsylvania voters. Two Democrats also support it, acknowledging that it does address concerns about access.
But is this likely to move forward? That seems doubtful.
Aside from the razor-thin Democratic majority in the House being at odds with the Republican- controlled Senate, Pennsylvania already has tried to fix Election Day issues with compromise only to have it come to courtroom drama.
In 2019, the General Assembly passed Act 77. The law balanced something Democrats favored — no-excuse mail-in ballots — with a Republican objective — getting rid of straight party voting.
The covid pandemic and a presidential election immediately put the mail-in ballots in the spotlight. Five years later, the lawsuits just keep coming. Every time Pennsylvanians go to the polls, there is a potential for a new battle from one side or the other, depending on how the last ruling went.
Pennsylvania elections do need reform. They need to be seamless, easy, fast and secure. If we need ID — and there is a good case for it — then it needs to be implemented in a way that doesn’t function as a poll tax.
But what we need more than anything is for legislators to look at the problems like they are Pennsylvanians and not as Democrats or Republicans.