The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

Local News

August 6, 2012

A vote for another dry run

Greenburg uneasy over photo ID law

By Tom Davidson Herald Staff Writer

MERCER COUNTY — Election officials across the state will be in a “holding pattern” for another week as Commonwealth Court considers a new law requiring voters to present photo identification at the polls on Election Day.

The law, which has dominated political-speak in Pennsylvania this year, will be challenging for poll workers during the Nov. 6 election, Mercer County Elections Director Jeff Greenburg said.

“In a perfect world, I would simply make November another practice run,” Greenburg said.

Passed in March, the law went through a dry run during the May 24 primary, at which voters were told they would be required to present a photo ID come fall.

That’s not enough to get the word out to the county’s 74,500 registered voters, Greenburg said.

About 12,000 people voted in May, “the lowest turnout I can remember,” he said.

That means there’s a lot of potential voters who may not know about the law when they try to vote in November, Greenburg said.

“My concerns are geared to the Pennsylvanians and Mercer Countians who do not know the law has changed,” he said.

Some people don’t read the newspaper or other media accounts of the law, he said, and there are registered voters who lack the ID that will be needed to vote.

“The question you have to ask yourself is, ‘How many is too many?’ ” Greenburg said. “Is it 100,000 or one million or is it one? If one person shows up and is turned away, I just think that’s one too many.”

Greenburg emphasized he doesn’t have a personal position on the validity of the law and was only talking about how it’s being implemented.

“Give us the chance to practice again,” he said of the November election.

It would allow the state to get the word out and give people more time to acquire photo IDs, he said.

“We’re three months away from the election; that’s the blink of an eye,” he said.

He also cautioned against suggestions for those who lack a photo ID and want to vote to apply for an absentee ballot. Such ballots can be issued to those who can’t get to their polling places on Election Day because of illness, physical disability or religious reasons.

Absentee votes can be challenged if someone can prove a person who voted via absentee ballot could have voted on Election Day, Greenburg said.

“Your swearing (an oath) when you sign that application,” he said. “You could theoretically be opening (an issue) to have those votes challenged.”

Commonwealth Court is set to rule on the law next week, after which counties can proceed with educating voters about what to do.

In the meantime, Democratic leaders in Mercer County have been working to get the word out for voters to get photo IDs, Farrell Mayor Olive McKeithan said.

“We’re really praying that (the court) overturns that,” McKeithan said. “I think it’s a disgrace. We’ve got a lot of people that don’t even have birth certificates.”

She and other Democrats have been arranging rides to PennDOT’s Mercer location to get photo ID cards and otherwise working to spread the word, she said.

Those wanting help getting a valid identification can call McKeithan at 724-346-3883.

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