I agree with you crosbycat. It is an excellent idea. In this year, 2012, you have to show ID to get a library card, visit your physician, complete transactions at your bank .. so why not show ID to show who you are as well. ID is shown to prove who you are at the physician's office so that no one else is using your medical benefits; it is shown at the bank so that no one else is getting their hands on your money. So, why not show ID when voting so that it is YOU casting your vote for whom YOU are selecting for the particular office.

With all that amazement, have you every volunteered at the polls or run for judge of elections or inspector if you feel they are not up to the job? I am the inspector of elections in my district and that's how I know how it is supposed to be done. If they are not checking your signature, they are probably not going to do a very good job checking your ID. And even though I did study handwriting analysis when I was a kid, it isn't necessary for the job. The signature either looks like the one in the book or it doesn't. Have a question, ask for ID.

Like I said, in this year 2012 you have to have ID for physician appointments, bank transactions, library cards, etc. it only makes sense to have an ID to vote. For now, people do not have to so that should help all of those people who have not been able to get that ID yet. Wonder how many in PA do not have photo ID as of this writing. People who are collecting any type of government benefits (SSI, SS Disability, welfare, etc.) need to have a photo ID. If one receives PACE benefits in PA you must have a photo ID. I bet if the state announced they were giving $100 bills to everyone with a photo ID you would see lines around the block to get them.

How does it currently work? I just registered and got my letter in the mail saying I'm good to vote basically. I know where my polling place is and I know a decent amount about the voter ID law because of where I used to work but as far as current law, I've never done it so I feel a bit lost.

Tara, because you are a first time voter, you will need ID, but your new voter registration card will do. You can click on the link in the article and go to the page about voting in Nov.

Absolutely! It is not "backward" ... in fact, wouldn't you say it is "progressive" and isn't that what democrats and liberals identify with ... being "progressive"?

Proving yourself innocent of fraud before you vote is not backwards? I thought someone was innocent BEFORE proven guilty in the USA.

No one is accusing you of fraud! Jeesh! You have to show ID so buy certain over the counter meds! What's the big deal?

I would have loved to run against these guys, just don't live in the district. You don't need to be a handwriting expert to know if a signature matches. If it doesn't match, the poll worker was supposed to check ID. ID does not fix poll worker incompetence.
I will say I think ID should be required to register to vote. That would do a lot more to avoid fraud. This impotent law doesn't address the registrations.

I agree with you Sue. How ridiculous to vote for a character in a book. But it is a shame that there are no opponents for so many races.

Law, as written doesn't stop fraud anyway, just going to hold up the line election day.

Sue, you continue to rain on every effort that people take in the way of a civil rights protest. Atticus Finch is an iconic character with meaning behind his name. The symbolism has a message.

You said the twitter campaign would have no affect on the ruling of the commonwealth court. Well...They halted the voter id process didn't they? Is it possible that enough people contacted the court to give the judge pause? Absolutely. These types of protests have been uniting people and sending messages to politicians for a very long time.

So you were wrong last time...Let's see if you are wrong this time.

Erin, the point is someone needs to step up and run against the unopposed opponents. They must be willing to take the time and effort. Voting for a fictious character isn't helping. Running is. Why don't you step up Erin??

And where is your proof the twitter campain did anything at all to influence the judges decision? How do you know that the judge didn't just do what he felt was right and his responsiblity? I would hate to have a judge in office that side-steps the law because of a twitter campain.

People are full of ideas, but they don't do anything concrete about it. If you are not happy with your representative, especially at the local level run. Or, volunteer to work for the people that are running and you agree with.

Spending two minutes writing in a cartoon charactors name or sending a twitter doesn't show any guts or hard work. And I believe if you really stand behind something then you work for it.

It is a protest. It sends a message.
Rather than just not voting in that category, it might send a message to others who have considered running but assumed that the incumbent was insurmountable.

I understand that you detest these alternative forms of protest, but there is no reason to demean the character "atticus finch" as a "cartoon." If it were Mickey Mouse being suggested, then yes...that would be silly.

How can you prove that these protests do not have some influence on the decision makers in this state? It seems absurd to me to attack these efforts as if they are meaningless. The character and the message have meaning. Could people do more? Always. That does not take away from the fact that this particular protest has meaning beyond writing in your own name or a cartoon character.

But who see's the election results, esp for a write-in? the only way I ever see results is if I actually stop and read them posted on the door of the polling place when I'm walking my dog. A write in campain has absolutely no visability. It's not going to get to any potential candidates. You need to go out and motivate someone to run, if you are not motivated to do it yourself.

Really? Local and national news does not cover election results?

They do.

Just click the link provided in the article to see what they hope to accomplish and why they are doing this. For Pete's sake.

Erin---I've religously watch election results for the past umpteen yrs on both the local and national news. I have never once seen a write-in candidate reported, and this tactic of getting people to vote for a single write in has been tried before.

I've read the article and understand what they are trying to do. But if anyone cares enough to really want change at a state level, quit messing around with these meaningless campains and get off your duff and run for office. Or at least get off your duff and organize a real statement, like a rally or march in front of the capital building.

<<Spending two minutes writing in a cartoon charactors name....SueT>>>>

Cartoon character? Atticus Finch? C'mon, SueT.

We are going to have to agree to disagree. I don't think any effort/protest is a waste, and I certainly think the twitter campaign was getting a message out as well.

I don't sign my name the way I did when I registered to vote almost 40 years ago. Having to show ID to prove who you are is no big deal!

Erin, I have nothing against twitter campaigns, but there is a time and place for them. You were trying to use twitter to influence a judge. A judges decisions should be made based on the legal arguments from each side, and the law. Any judge influenced by twitter doesn't deserve his seat on the bench. The time for the twitter campaign was back when the legislation was in front of the state house to be voted on. A twitter campaign to let your representative know the views of the district he/she represents is an appropriate use. As far as write-in campaigns, they are as old as the first election. Nothing new with them at all. The problem is, no one hears the results. Put your passion behind working for a candidate, or be a candidate yourself. That will get results. A protest needs to be visible to make a statement. And, a write-in campaign just isn't. That's one reason I believe in third party candidates. At least their results are reported. And, it it is a presidential election and they get 5 percent of the vote, they are entitled to receive money from the Federal Election Fund. That does make the news.

Jo, the consitition gives the right to vote through a series of amendments to the constitution (for example admentment one for women). The power to enforce that right is given to the states. It is up to the states to develop voting regulations, not the federal government.

I spoke with various PA State reps, and the voter fraud that this truly helps them prevent is the "secret duffle bag" attack. This is how some senators and governors got elected in certain states, where the election officials of populous counties found hundreds if not thousands of absentee and provisional ballots, reportedly hidden or innocently lost in the corner of the courthouse.
What the PA law does is that it forces people to write down the ID#, so you can check that name and number are valid instantly. If it's fraud then you can prove it quickly and reject all bad ballots with a reasonable legal definition. If they are dead, the ID expires after 12 months so again it eliminates the cemetery votes. If it's not a PA issued ID, it is still possible to verify by inquiring the issuing institution(s). Again ballots can be legally rejected. If the entire bag is fraudulent, I'm sure someone can investigate and collect proof, then press charges against a corrupt election official.

I think that was the real success of the voter ID law : no more votes in mysterious duffle bags with unreal voters like Mickey Mouse and Anonymous.

Most states require that you prove your citizernship when you register to vote. I don't remember if PA is one of them.

Not just a fictional character. An iconic symbol of civil rights. The unity across districts through the name "Atticus Finch" sends a much more powerful message than if everyone wrote in their own name.

Mary I agree with you don't vote for this fictional character, just like obama who is out in left field

Certain state reps decided to take voting from a right and responsibility of citizenship into a political football. That's the irony of the campaign. This gives the people who don't agree with them a voice at the polls. Your county board of elections will have the election results. They get a copy of that list that is on the poll window.

*unopposed

Because you didn't read everything there was on voters id, you just read what the democrats said but didn't read the the entire thing.

I did read the whole law, but it's implementation by the Dept of State had a myriad of of changes to the requirements necessary for ID to vote. Gov Corbett didn't know them either. Here are things you do not need any ID to do, register to vote, get a Dept of State Photo ID to vote. Do you get the irony? Fictional character, fictional effect of the law. Erin, I don't know which point along the trail of voter ID you mean for needing the last 4 of ss#, Can be a few places. Let me know.

Cc, maybe you can tell me how the law stops fraud since you read the whole thing, not just the parts the dems put out. It will be a first though. I have been asking for months, even while the law was a bill, I never get an sentient answer to that question. I do get harrumph, harrumph, red herring, red herring, insult , insult,( not necessarily in that order), but no real answer.

Ah, I had that web page marked. The last four digits of ssn as a substitute for photo identification was in section 1 of the law in march 2012 if I remember correctly.

I have been pretty diligent with researching and following this issue, so it just took me by surprise to learn that this possibly could have been an option at one point.

I had never heard of this before, but the provision would have made me a lot more comfortable with the law. If a portion like this did exist and was removed...Well, to me that would be more indication that this law was implemented as political strategy rather than to prevent fraud.

Oh, I think it is only for the absentee ballot. Huh...I wonder why they did not offer that option to everyone. The original part of the voter id law did not make that distinction for the ssn option...I don't think. It seems like if they had a record of the number voting that would take away the possibility of people voting more than once and would be much less restrictive. It should also be easy/automatic enough to confirm if that ssn was actually deceased.

Erin, the last 4 is only for the absentee ballot, you are right. I would have been more comfortable with that too, but it is not even required to register to vote. Instead of putting all the identity double checking at the county level, by requiring ID when you register to vote, they put it on the backs of the polls workers, I hope all these proponents of voter ID enjoy waiting in line.

That is a really great perspective that I had not thought of. Thanks for sharing your article!

Maybe we need photo recognition at all voting places in PA and then run all pictures from each polling place against all other. If someone votes in more than one place then all votes from that district should be tossed in the garbage. Then maybe we will have a true election process.

Right cc that would work well, disenfranchising a 1000 people because of 1 fraudulent vote. So dems would do a fraudulent vote in a R district and R's would do fraudulent vote in Dem district and we can through out the whole election. I don't know about you, but that's a bit too big brother big gov't for me. Creepy.

Well do you think your stupid idea of voting for a cartoon character is going to work either. Voting for a cartoon character is so lame.

Wow, you are really a piece of work there CC. Completely nasty and disrespectful.

You are not only disrespectful to Adrian Seltzer, but you are disrespectful to an influential monument of American literature.

Go to the library and pick up To Kill a Mockingbird. You will be embarrassed that you referred to Atticus Finch as a "cartoon character."

Erin - I've been on enough of these types of sites to know that there are always a few who have nothing to add to the discussion but name calling and repeating the same inane crap over and over. They are usually the least informed. They tend to go away if ignored. cc falls into this category.

Oh I know, but when I contribute to a thread or with an opinion blog, it makes me feel better to know that people are recognizing that these people are ridiculous and are listening to what I have to say.

So I try to give back when I am paying attention because I would want it done for me. Though that was definitely the last of what I have to say about the whole "cartoon character" nonsense. :)

Reading up on ALEC as well. Is there something that I could read about Metcalf's vested interest in the voter id law being passed? I'd like to share it on my social networking sites as many of my friends live in Cranberry.

Erin - Metcalfe is a dues paying member. He was on the "Public Safety and Elections Task Force" until they disbanded it in April following the killing of Trayvon Martin in Florida. This task force wrote all the "Stand your Ground" and "Castle Doctrine" legislation in states that include PA. Also wrote the Voter ID laws. All were promoted by Metcalfe. He is a particularly reactionary state legislator and hasn't seen a piece of pro-corporate or anti-labor legislation that he doesn't love. I feel sorry for anyone that has to live in his district that has any moderate or progessive leanings. Obviously there aren't enough.

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Pennsylvania_ALEC_Politicians

Erin, It is a joke that your going to vote for a cartoon character. I have read to kill a mockingbird also. Erin your the piece of work, I just laugh every ever time I read what you write. Sweetie it is time you wake up and smell the coffee and get out in the real world instead of being a professional student

JS you also fall into this category of needing to leave here with your lame thinking

Erin, there may be good reason why people aren't listening.

It is assembly members who voted for Voter ID, who are running unopposed. Reread my first paragraph. I compiled the list from the yes votes for the law, the fact that they just so happen to all be republicans, who are always flag waving and calling for smaller gov't was a coincidence. Do you have any idea of the millions of tax payer dollars wasted on this law that doesn't prevent fraud?

Please don't presume to speak for me. I served so that others would have the freedom to use their constitutionally protected rights as they wish. The only way to make a mockery of the election is to assume that your beliefs should be imposed on others. Vote for whichever candidate that you want. Debate the issues with passion. Believe what you choose. The only enemy of democracy is the desire to impose your will upon others.

Roger, the protest is intended to reject a law that restricts voter access/freedom. Why do people think Atticus Finch is a cartoon character?

Thanks Jerry for that comment. You should call in to Free Talk Live sometime. I love when someone from the military or a police force calls into the show. The conversations seem to get much deeper with those callers. (radio talk show/free on the internet and itunes/talk about liberty).

Jerry, I don't pretend to speak for anybody. I merely suggested those wishing to vote for a cartoon character take their case to somebody who fought in the wars for freedom. Choosing to vote for a cartoon character is exercising their will of who they wish to vote. I'm sure those elderly folks would love to hear the explanations about the cartoon character.

What law restricts voter access/freedom? Requiring a valid photo ID to vote? Horse stuff! How would you feel if you went to the polls to vote and found out you already voted?

Not a cartoon character. Just want to make sure that is clear to everyone. Emphatically _not_ a cartoon character. An iconic symbol of civil rights that some argue has actually changed the way people practice law.

Mickey? Cartoon character.

Sponge Bob? Cartoon character.

Atticus Finch? Iconic hero of justice and civil rights. He was a lawyer and a state legislature that refused to go against his own standards of justice despite the censure of the entire town that he lived in (he defended a black man accused of raping a white woman).

"They’re certainly entitled to think that, and they’re entitled to full respect for their opinions,” said Atticus, “but before I can live with other folks I’ve got to live with myself. The one thing that doesn’t abide by majority rule is a person’s conscience.”

Roger, you don't think it is a mockery of your service that your veteran's ID card is not valid for voting?

Erin, thank you

Adrian, apples and oranges.

Did you ever see how they do voting in a nursing home, they ask people with Alzheimer who they want as the next president and then the one filling out the paper puts down who they want.. Most doesn't have any clue who is running and even what day or year it is.

cc, The law would not fix that. Thank you for another example of why the law is the fraud.

no what you wrote is a joke. There is voter ID out there, but dumocrats don't believe it cause the mighty obummer says it isn't so. What a joke

Showing ID works in other states that has been doing it for years. Cannot wait Adrian to when you go to vote and someone has already voted under your name, then what are you going to do. Vote for a cartoon

No, I know the law is a fraud because I read it and as an inspector of elections know how the election system actually works. I dont know the voter id laws in other states, i know the PA law. You are the one who has swallowed the hype and rhetoric. You still havent given me an example of how the law would stop fraud. No one in our district would be able to vote for me, because signatures are checked for people we do not know or recognize and I'm the one doing it. When you have first hand experience in something it is much easier for one to sort though the bs and not believe the fiction being feed to one from the cartoon character politicians you are so quick to believe. I have a bridge for sales, you in the market?

" ... and as an inspector of elections know how the election system actually works. ...."

Thanks. Pennsylvanians should feel much better now, knowing that an inspector of elections advocates voting for a cartoon character. This gives us a marker of the respect for the voting priveledge the inspector holds for the voting process.

Roger, I am not advocating voting for a fictional character if there is someone to vote for. It is only if the candidate who voted for ID has no opponent. And because there is no contest, is it really an election? This is a way for people to show their disapproval. Don't like Atticus, write yourself in, write in NO, write in let us vote, people don't realize they still have an option. I was letting them know. I have more respect for our election process than the assembly members who voted for this law that does NOT stop fraud, a statement that you and a lot of others are ignoring. 82 comments and no one has given a way the law stops fraud. Lots of rhetoric, but no facts.

Thanks for sharing this info. I did not know about any of this.

I read about the tagg Romney purchase and sent it in to politifact to check. The electronic voting machines can be tampered with. If programming is involved programming can be written to give whatever result is wanted. I suppose if the printed ballot was reversed than everyone who thought they were voting for one candidate, would actually be voting for the other, but that would have to be done at the county level and would involve more than one person. I would be worried if there was some type of communication available with the machine, that one person could tamper with. When I go to training later this month, I am going to question them more about this. It did make me uneasy when we got them, because I had heard stories, but the machines appear to be working fine.

I have also heard from a few people about how write ins can freak out the machines, causing them to stop working, which is something I am investigating now. I heard this in both bucks & Chester counties.

Oh, nice. I will keep an eye on politifact this week. I am sure they will cover the whole Tagg Romney issue. The story has become more widespread since I wrote that comment (at least from my perspective).

I was not even considering the write-ins! That does seem like an obvious spot for trouble. I am sure a lot of us would enjoy a blog article about your experience with the new electronic voting machines, and really the whole experience altogether after Nov 7th. :)