Rendell: I’ll veto anti-voter bill
February 21st, 2006 by PapaSkaroffCongratulations to Gov. Ed Rendell for standing up to the Republican-dominated state legislature in their attempt to limit voters’ rights! In a speech at the National Constitution Center, the Governor announced yesterday he would veto the bill passed by the state legislature that would make voting more cumbersome by requiring every voter to show an ID.
According to the AP report,
He believes such a mandate is unconstitutional and would disenfranchise some of the state’s most vulnerable residents. People including nursing home residents and poorer citizens might not have proper ID and thus could lose their right to vote under the legislation, Rendell said.
“At a time in our nation’s history when voter participation is dropping to alarming levels, the government should not be taking action that will turn away bona fide voters from our polls.”
This from the Philadelphia Inquirer:
Seated in front of a dozen of the city’s African American leaders, Democrats all, Rendell said at a news conference that House Bill 1318 would have the effect of denying some people their right to vote.
The legislation, he said, would discourage voting at a time when “we should be doing everything we can to increase voter participation.”
Meanwhile, Lynn Swann, Rendell’s likely Republican opponent next election, seems worried that without the new law not enough Democrats will be turned away from the polls. “The idea that presenting a form of identification would somehow disenfranchise people is as ridiculous as it is untrue,” his campaign dissembled.
The governor’s website lists 22 organizations urging a veto of House Bill 1318. Still to come: Even though passed by the legislature last Wednesday, the bill has yet to cross the governor’s desk allowing his formal veto.
February 21st, 2006 at 12:10 pm
How sad that Swann seemingly doesn’t even know the history of black voter disenfranchisement in this country.