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| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
| State Rep. Dan Frankel |
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Frankel denounces vote suppression bill
HARRISBURG, March 13 – House Democratic Caucus Chairman Dan Frankel, D-Allegheny, denounced the vote suppression bill that the Republican-majority House is expected to pass and send to the governor.
Speaking on the House floor, Frankel said H.B. 934 "comes down to one basic truth: that it stifles our fundamental right to vote enshrined in our democracy."
Current state law already protects against fraud by requiring Pennsylvanians to show a photo ID the first time they vote in a precinct. The bill would expand that requirement to apply every time someone votes even though about 700,000 Pennsylvania adults, including many seniors and people with disabilities, lack photo ID.
Frankel said the bill "would, very clearly, stifle the voice of our older voters, our young voters, our voters of color. This is a calculated maneuver, let there be no question or doubt about that. Republicans have talked a lot about good government this year. I'm not sure how preventing seniors and students from voting makes our government better."
Frankel gave an example of the problems the bill will generate: "One of my constituents called worried that her elderly father will have trouble voting. He’s in a wheelchair, and his only photo identification is an expired driver’s license. He’s voted in every single election for the past several decades, so he’s well-known in his polling place. Unfortunately, the fact that the judge of elections knows him by name is not enough to convince the majority party that he won’t be voting illegally, so he’ll have to show his voter ID.
"For him to get an ID, he will have a FIVE-step process:
· Obtain, and fill out, form DL-54A
· Find, or obtain, a social security card.
· Find, or obtain, a birth certificate or passport
· Get together utility bills, mortgage or rental documents, or tax documents.
· Use public transportation to get to a driver’s license center, documents in tow, or if he’s lucky, find a relative willing to take time off of work to get him to a driver’s license center.
"And the reason we’re asking this wheelchair-bound octogenarian supervoter to jump through these hoops in order to vote is that we’re worried he’s going to commit voter impersonation."
A video excerpt of Frankel's remarks can be viewed at www.pahouse.com/Frankel.
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Rep. Dan Frankel's full remarks on H.B. 934, as prepared for delivery:
Mr. Speaker, today we have heard passionate arguments from both sides of the aisle.
However, I believe HB 934 comes down to one basic truth: that it stifles our fundamental right to vote enshrined in our democracy.
Any attempt to infringe that right is an affront to the constitution and our founding fathers.
Supporters of this bill will have you believe that this is about good government, whose outcome just happens to have the partisan implication of suppressing voter turnout in a presidential election.
Unfortunately, the most harm this legislation will cause will be the non-partisan pain caused to our voters. Particularly for our youngest voters– those 18-year-old high school students who will show up at the polls for the first time and be told they can’t vote – and for our oldest voters – who’ve been voting their whole lives and now will be turned away because they can’t show a government-issued, non-expired voter ID.
For example, one of my constituents called worried that her elderly father will have trouble voting.
He’s in a wheelchair, and his only photo identification is an expired driver’s license. He’s voted in every single election for the past several decades, so he’s well-known in his polling place. Unfortunately, the fact that the Judge of Elections knows him by name is not enough to convince the Majority party that he won’t be voting illegally, so he’ll have to show his Voter ID.
For him to get an ID he will have a FIVE step process.
• Obtain, and fill out, form DL-54A
• Find, or obtain, a social security card.
• Find, or obtain, a birth certificate or passport
• Get together utility bills, mortgage or rental documents, or tax documents.
• Use public transportation to get to a driver’s license center, documents in tow, or if he’s lucky, find a relative willing to take time off of work to get him to a driver’s license center.
And the reason we’re asking this wheelchair bound octogenarian supervoter to jump through these hoops in order to vote is that we’re worried he’s going to commit voter impersonation.
Apparently, the Majority party fears that this gentleman will call the transit agency serving older residents and people with disabilities, ACCESS.
He will somehow convince the ACCESS driver to aid and abet him in his voter impersonation fraud, by taking him from polling place to polling place.
Of course, he’ll have done extensive research in advance to figure out the name of a registered voter in that precinct.
It can’t be a name of just any registered voter, it has to be someone who doesn’t plan to vote that day, AND someone from that neighborhood who nobody else in the polling place knows.
Then he will sign that person’s voter card, COPYING their signature in order to avoid getting caught.
That part might be especially difficult, since his hands tremble when he writes.
But it’s important, because of this gentleman is caught, he’ll be committing a FELONY that will result in a $10,000 fine – that’s expensive for someone living on a pension and social security.
Finally, this man can wheel himself before the voting screen and vote for somebody else.
Aren’t we glad that the Republicans have forestalled this terrible crime?
The bill’s supporters claim we need this legislation to solve a widespread problem.
But the truth is there is NOT a documented problem of voter fraud in Pennsylvania.
Nor is it a far-reaching problem elsewhere, because, as impersonating another voter is really hard to do, and the consequences of getting caught are serious.
So what does voter fraud look like?
As an example of how not-far-reaching, how not-legitimate these concerns are, an advocacy organization in Minnesota recently offered a $1,000 reward for proof of any official allegation, charge or conviction of voter fraud in that state going back as far as 10 years.
After months of time passed, one group, a pro-voter ID organization, was finally able to scrounge up one charge from the 2008 election, an election where almost 3 million Minnesotans cast their vote.
You know what the “Fraud” was? A mother signed her daughter’s absentee ballot because she thought she was allowed to, and she didn’t know her daughter planned to vote the same day.
Oops.
I’m glad we’re going to spend $11 million to stop any well-meaning moms from pulling that trick in Pennsylvania.
This is what passes as far-reaching fraud, I guess.
So the question becomes, if HB 934 doesn’t stop voter impersonation, what does it really stop?
Very simply, it would stop people who don't have a government-issued photo ID card from voting.
And it would, very clearly, stifle the voice of our older voters, our young voters, our voters of color.
This is a calculated maneuver, let there be no question or doubt about that.
Republicans have talked a lot about good government this year.
I'm not sure how preventing seniors and students from voting makes our government better.
It is for these reasons that I will be voting to non-concur on the Senate amendments to HB 934.
I urge all of my colleagues to do the same.