Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court Judge Robert Simpson denied the American Civil Liberty Union’s (ACLU) request for a preliminary injunction to block the state’s voter ID law. A coalition, including the League of Women Voters and the NAACP, asked the state to block a new law requiring voters to show ID at the polls.
Simpson wrote that the voter ID law is neutral and nondiscriminatory, and applies uniformly to all voters. According to the plaintiffs, it disenfranchises “hundreds of thousands” of elderly, poor, and minority voters.
“Today is a victory for free elections and voter integrity,” stated National Center for Public Policy Research general counsel Justin Danhof in a press release. “Voting is a privilege that many Americans hold sacrosanct. Now Pennsylvania voters can be assured that their votes will not be stolen, and can be confident that election results are fair and accurate.” The National Center is a conservative think tank.
National Center adjunct fellow Horace Cooper said in a press release, “I’m thrilled with Judge Simpson’s ruling. Upholding Pennsylvania’s commonsense voter ID reform will ensure greater confidence in this year’s election outcome and likely lead to higher voter participation for all Pennsylvanians.”
The petitioners said in their request for an injunction that in-person voter fraud is rare, and therefore voter ID laws are not needed to prevent votes from being stolen.
They said Pennsylvania does not have enough offices where people can get ID, and that the required documentation is more onerous than it is in Georgia, where a voter ID law was allowed to stand.
David Schultz, elections expert and professor at Hamline University School of Business, said in a press release, “Voter fraud at the polls is an insignificant aspect of American elections.”
The ACLU and other plaintiffs will appeal the verdict in Applewhite v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to the State Supreme Court.
The main plaintiff is 93-year-old Viviette Applewhite, a civil rights movement veteran who has been voting since 1960. Applewhite approached the ACLU after trying without success to get the free state voter ID.
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