The Bucks Underground Railroad

April 26, 2012

On April 18 I traveled to Bristol for the regularly scheduled Commissioners’ meeting to express my concerns about registered voters living in nursing homes.  About a dozen people spoke and shared horror stories they experienced as they attempted to abide by this law.  My post of March 30, 2012 listed my concerns for my brother, now residing in a nursing home.   http://www.oneifbylandbuckscounty.com/blog/?p=902.

Since that posting I’ve learned that my brother’s nursing home has no plans to photograph their residents.  This decision came after a nursing home staff member made inquiries, only to learn that any photo ID created by the home would not be “acceptable”.  The home has not decided to transport by van to the Dublin DMV any of their 37 registered voters who do not have approved photo ID.

So many glitches are beginning to surface from this law:  Photos taken at a DMV are supposed to be free; however one of the speakers at this meeting said that when he went to get his photo taken, he was charged $13 dollars and change.  If you work, you’ll have to take time off your job running around to get these documents.  Time lost is money out of your paycheck!  The documents required in order to get an approved photo ID will not be secured quickly–Birth Certificates at least a month; Passports at least 16 weeks.

The horror story described at this meeting was the 89 year old woman—never having missed voting her entire adult life—who traveled to the Dublin DMV with all the proper documents, only to be rejected because her marriage certificate was in Hebrew.  The clerk at the DMV suggested she change back to her maiden name and then she could get her photo ID.  Happy ending is a couple days ago she was granted a DMV photo ID good for four years.  Oh–and in 2016, she can renew her Official Voter ID card for a fee (not yet determined).

Don’t have a certified copy of your Birth Certificate?  My recommendation is visit the office of your State Rep or State Senator.  They have proudly boasted in their newsletters and campaign literature all about their excellent “constituent service”.  Do it:  Request one of them to get your Birth Certificate.  It’ll be on your doorstep within two weeks!

The Tuesday Primary was not the best “dry run” for voters.  With only the D’s and R’s showing up–and a paltry 24% at my polling place–all the Libertarians, Greens, and No Party voters, unless they read the local paper won’t have a clue about this mess.

The cost to taxpayers as the State implements this unconstitutional law is tremendous.  Minority Commissioner Diane Marseglia stated the amount to be a couple million dollars.  The governor has cut funding for social programs but oh yeah, there seems to be money to devote state employees and resources just to make sure everybody knows who they are when they go into the voting booth.

It ain’t over yet.  Three days ago I received an email from the Pennsylvania Chapter of the ACLU.  Here’s their message I pass on to all of you:

It’s very important and URGENT that we find people who don’t have ID. If you think you don’t have the right kind of ID or someone you know doesn’t have an acceptable photo ID, please contact ACLU of PA at 717-238-2258 Voterid@aclupa.org.  They’re about to file a lawsuit!

There are many places in our communities—shelters, housing groups, houses of worship, or halfway houses to name a few—where there are voters who don’t yet have a photo ID.  If you regularly attend a worship service, make sure this information gets to all your members.  Imagine the number of people who live in cities and travel by bus but have no approved ID, not even a driver’s license.

This is a seriously horrific situation where as many as 5 to 10% of registered voters will be disenfranchised.  The pro-voter ID people believe this is not a serious issue and that everybody has an ID and there are ”…no problems…” to get the proper documentation. …….If only that were so.

And finally, there is a SignOn petition circulating by email, Facebook, and Tweet.  It reads:

People throughout Bucks County need to be educated about the new requirements to vote in November.  It is the obligation of the County Commissioners to run honest, efficient, and uniform elections.  In order to do so, the County Commissioners  must convene a Photo ID Task Force by May 15, 2012, to draw up a plan to educate the general public about the details of the Photo ID law and facilitate the processing of documents necessary for Bucks County residents to vote in November 2012.  The task force must be representative of the entire county and operate transparently.

Go to the link: http://signon.org/sign/county-commissioners.  Last time I checked, it was close to a thousand names asking for the Task Force.

To determine what acceptable voter ID documents you already have or will need, visit www.votespa.com.