A Keystone Victory

When Pennsylvania Commonwealth Judge Robert Simpson looked at his state's new voter  ID law, he thought it could work, assuming people in Pennsylvania could get photographic identification quite easily, but the state Supreme Court gave it back to him and asked him to find evidence that the law was workable.  Finding none, Simpson yesterday blocked the law from taking effect for the 2012 elections and gave the state a year to facilitate the process for obtaining a photo ID, so that the law can take effect for the 2013 election cycle. Next year's elections will mostly involve local races in Pennsylvania, though Pennsylvania Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald Castille and Supreme Court Justice Max Baer are up for re-election in 2013 (that's right, the Keystone State has an elected Supreme Court!), but if everyone who wants to vote can get photo IDs before November 2013, the law might be a moot question by 2014. That's when part of the state Senate and the entire state House of Representatives are up for re-election, as is Governor Tom Corbett.  The Republicans control both houses of the General Assembly, and Corbett himself is a Republican.

But, meanwhile, voting rights activists, having won this victory, are now likely to go full throttle and get the law overturned altogether, meaning that the law could be mooter than moot.  The momentum is on the side of any group trying to do away with voter ID laws anywhere.  The Republicans who passed the Pennsylvania law knew it could not only help Mitt Romney win the state, they knew it could keep their legislative majorities in place for eternity.  Enough people were unpersuaded by the idea of "voter fraud" as the reason for this law to take action against it, and similar laws in other states have either been invalidated or are being challenged, so no matter what happens in the 2012 elections, these voter suppression efforts may be doomed.

And by the way, polls currently show President Obama comfortably ahead in Pennsylvania right now.  And his supporters can now vote easily.  Poll workers can ask for a photo ID but cannot insist that it be required. So, the stakes for Romney are even higher going into the debate tonight. If he wants to win Pennsylvania, he'll have to win it fair and square. It's not looking good for him . . ..