A Pennsylvania judge has rejected a challenge to that state’s voter ID law.
Commonwealth Judge Robert Simpson wrote that while he thought the petitioners like the American Civil Liberties Union and other liberal and civil rights groups had done a good job of “‘putting a face’ to those burdened by the voter ID requirement….”at the end of the day…I do not have the luxury of deciding this issue based on my sympathy for the witnesses or my esteem for counsel.”
Indeed, the judge had to stick to the Constitution and only the Constitution and on that basis he rejected the petitioner’s claims.
Thing is, as Byron York notes today, most everyone agrees with the Pennsylvania law. It doesn’t matter which sex or ethnicity you are, or which economic group you belong to, a majority of people think it makes sense to present photo ID to vote. It is only extremists like Attorney General Eric Holder who have a problem with voter ID laws.
“When something has the support of 75 percent of the voters, plus the approval of the Supreme Court, which by a six-to-three vote in 2008 upheld Indiana’s voter ID law, one might think the Justice Department would give up trying to stop it. So far, that’s not the case with … Holder,” writes York.
This latest ruling won’t deter Holder either, it seems.
“The U.S. Justice Department is continuing to review whether the Pennsylvania voter ID law complies with federal voting rights laws, a department official said,” reports Reuters.
For Pennsylvania voters, meantime, it seems as if the integrity of the voting process will be more secure this time around than last.