Your simple 3-step, 5 document road to a valid voter's ID

I have to say that I wasn’t really paying attention to the debate over the new identification requirements that all Pennsylvania voters now need to cast their ballots this November. I figured most folks have drivers’ licenses and the number of people affected would be small. I did recognize it as an attempt to reduce the number of Democratic voters, and I did buy the argument that voter fraud is really not a widespread or even a minimal problem.

Actually, I kind of thought it was an act of Republican desperation. The nation’s demographics are powerfully working against the Republican Party whose members are overwhelmingly old, conservative and white.

Chart from Blogcritics - age of Republican voters

Age Range

Graph

Percent

18-27

6%

28-37

14%

38-47

15%

48-57

24%

58+

37%

Here’s some Gallup polling.

A New York Magazine piece on the desperate Republican attempt to stem the demographic tide and win this presidential election at any cost notes, “the electorate was growing both somewhat better educated and dramatically less white, making every successive election less favorable for the GOP.” It underscores that observation with the demographic fact that in 30 years, non-white voters will outnumber white voters, and points out that keeping those non-white voters from the polls is a key Republican strategy. Our own Representative Mike Turzai, House majority leader, confirmed the strategy and boasted in a speech at a recent Republican gathering that keeping some voters from the polls will guarantee a Romney presidency. He got a round of applause for his efforts to disenfranchise voters.

OK, so the Republicans are in desperation mode; they’re going all in to win this election seeing it as a last chance to appoint Supreme Court justices who will further erode the right to vote, punish immigrants, and hand more power over to corporations. This is ugly, I thought, but really, how many Pennsylvania voters won’t already have proper identification to vote.

Then PennDOT ran the numbers. More than 750,000 Pennsylvanians lack the identification that will be required at the polls – nine percent of all voters – 18 percent of voters in Philadelphia lack the needed ID.

Not to worry, though. The Corbett administration having realized that some people will need basic information to get the valid voter identification they need has helpfully hired, at a cost of about a quarter of a million dollars, a Republican fundraising, public relations and lobbying firm to create two 30-second TV ads  to get the word out. You have the right to vote, the ads say, and you need identification to do so. If you don’t have the required ID, the ads flash a web address for more information for a full three seconds at the end of the spots. Hope you don’t miss it. Hope you have an internet connection.

If you’re fast enough to note the votepa web address, after three clicks, you arrive at the PennDOT website with the simple three step, five document process that you will need to navigate to get your valid voter’s ID -  copied below. Don’t forget to download, print and sign your Oath/Affirmation Voter ID form (form DL-54A).

Step1
To obtain a Pennsylvania Photo Identification card, an individual needs to visit a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Driver License Center with a completed Application for an Initial Photo Identification Card; form DL-54A, and the following:

Social Security Card
AND
One of the following:

• Certificate of U.S. Citizenship  
• Certificate of Naturalization
• Valid U.S. Passport
• *Birth Certificate with a raised seal

PLUS

• Two proofs of **residency such as lease agreements, current utility bills, mortgage documents, W-2 form, tax records

*If they do not have a birth certificate with a raised seal and are a Pennsylvania native; and do not have one of the acceptable, alternative forms of photo identification to vote; and will provide a signed oath/affirmation form, when visiting the PennDOT driver license center, they must:

• Tell the PennDOT customer service representative they are a Pennsylvania native who needs a photo ID for voting purposes, and do not have a certified copy of their birth certificate;
• Sign an oath/affirmation that they do not have an acceptable form of ID for voting purposes and the photo ID is needed for voting purposes;
• Show a Social Security card and two proofs of residence, such as a deed, lease, tax bill, or utility bill;
• Fill out a DL-54A form requesting a non-driver photo ID and;
• Complete the HD01564F (Request for Certification of Birth Record for Voter ID Purposes Only) form, which collects information such as birth name, mother and father's name and place of birth. This Department of Health form is available at all Driver Licensing Centers.

PennDOT will then forward the completed form to the Department of Health, which maintains birth records. After verifying the birth record is on file, the Department of Health will securely transmit this information to PennDOT. PennDOT will then notify them by letter that their birth record has been confirmed. They may then return to any driver license center, with the above noted documentation, to receive your free photo ID for voting purposes. This verification process will take about ten days and does not require the payment of a fee.

**Students at least 18 years of age: Accepted proofs of residency include the room assignment paperwork (considered a lease) and one bill with their dorm room address on it. Bank statements, paystubs and credit card bills are all acceptable. Other Individuals who may not have any bills, leases or mortgage documents in their name may bring the person with whom they are living along with their Driver’s License or Photo ID to a driver license center as one proof of residence.

Step 2
When their application and supporting documentation have been reviewed and processed, a Driver License Center staff member will direct the applicant to the Photo Center to have their photo taken for their Photo ID card.

Step 3
Once their photo has been taken, they will be issued a Photo ID card.