PA voting rights advocates seek court order barring state from misleading voters

The voting rights advocates who won a delay in implementation of Pennsylvania’s Voter ID law are back in court.  They’ve filed a motion asking the court to order the state to stop misleading voters about the law.

On Oct. 2, Pennsylvania was ordered to allow voters to cast their ballots on Nov. 6 even if they don’t have a photo ID.  Election officials are free to ask for the ID, but they can’t turn away voters who don’t have it.

But you’d never know that if you relied on the information being disseminated by the state – unless you read the fine print.

For example, before the court issued its order, Pennsylvania ran a campaign featuring huge billboards with a picture of a Pennsylvania driver’s license and the words "SHOW IT," in huge type.

After the court ruled that voters don’t have to “show it” after all, what did the state do?  It added the words “This election day if you have it” – in much, much smaller type.  (There’s a photo on Page 7 of the motion.)

In addition, according to a statement from the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania:

• Lawyers have received dozens of complaints from voters alleging that radio and television commercials from the state falsely claiming that a photo ID is required still are on the air.
• As recently as October 11, some Pennsylvania Department of Transportation offices still were displaying posters claiming people need photo ID to vote.
• And, according to the statement: “Last week, thousands of Pennsylvania seniors received a mailing from … a program administered by the Commonwealth's Department of Aging, that included a Department of State card about the voter ID law. The card incorrectly states: ‘Voters are required to show photo ID on Election Day.’

As we noted previously on this blog, Pennsylvania's largest utility company has compounded the problem.

The ACLU of Pennsylvania statement notes that “Pennsylvania's voting laws prohibit dissemination of false or misleading information to the electorate about voting.”

 

The motion asks the court to order the state to stop spreading the misleading information – and order the state to “publish widely the clear and unambiguous message that Photo ID is not required to vote this Election Day…”

 

The motion was brought by the ACLU of Pennsylvania, the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia, Advancement Project, and the law firm of Arnold & Porter. 

By the time you vote in Phoenix – will it be too late?

Still another screw-up in connection with Voter ID – this time in Phoenix, Arizona and surrounding suburbs.  There is nothing wrong with the ID cards themselves.  There is nothing wrong with the English-language instructions.  But some sets of Spanish-language instructions – no one knows how many – say the election is on Nov. 8.  Actually, it’s Nov. 6.

This, of course, comes on top of the blunders in Pennsylvania and Kansas noted previously on this blog.

And speaking of Pennsylvania, it seems the state has come up with an ad campaign with the potential to mislead voters.  According to the HarrisburgPatriot, the state has huge ads on the outside of buses featuring a picture of a state driver's license and, in huge type, the words "SHOW IT"   

In fact, while election workers are free to ask for such ID, thanks to a court ruling, Pennsylvania voters are not required to "show it." Presumably, that's why the ads also say, in notably smaller type, “this Election Day if you have it.”  You'd almost think the State of Pennsylvania wants to confuse voters - or worse.

The Patriot quotes one of the lawyers who sued to block the Pennsylvania voter ID law, Witold Walczak, legal director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania, who noticed that a lot of the "Show it" signs with the great big driver's licenses are on bus shelters in poor neighborhoods where “you have low-income people who don’t have a license because they use mass transit. A cynic might say this is an insidious effort to mislead people. I, of course, am not a cynic.”

Even failed voter suppression efforts do damage

Misunderstandings spawn misinformation, confusion

Actually, the people at the utility serving Philadelphia and several suburban counties meant well.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that the state's largest utility, known as PECO, just wanted voters to know that they would have to present a valid Photo ID in order to vote.  After all, at the time the newsletter was written – August – and the time it was sent out – the end of September – that really was the law.

But on Oct. 2 a judge struck down the photo ID requirement. As a result, more than one million utility customers have been misinformed.

While this started out as an honest mistake, PECO compounded the error by continuing to send out the newsletters, even after the judge issued his ruling.  According to the Inquirer:

[PECO spokesman Ben] Armstrong said PECO intended to continue distribution of the faulty newsletter through its October billing cycle, running through Oct. 28. It's not possible for its printer to schedule a corrected run, he said, and the newsletter contains information on other programs "that needs to get" to customers. 

Of course.  Indeed, one can only imagine the disappointment across the greater Philadelphia region if customers opened their bills to find – only a bill.  No doubt they would march on the utility offices pouring out their despair at missing their monthly newsletter.

And no wonder.  As the Inquirer reports:

The other items [in the newsletter] this month include information on the utility's home energy audits, how to make donations to its Matching Energy Assistance Fund, Fire Safety Month, and a cutout for customers to get discounts at the Please Touch Museum.

Something similar is happening, on a smaller scale, in Kansas.  In that state, county and state officials are bickering over what kind of school IDs can be used by high school students who are old enough to vote.

Of course all this is music to the ears of those pushing what are, in fact, voter suppression laws.  Even as courts narrow, postpone or strike down many of these laws, the confusion left in their wake is likely to dampen turnout at the polls.

This is one assault on the democratic process that can succeed even when it fails.

Getting dramatic about voter suppression

Voter suppression laws are under challenge all across the country.  Nowhere is the fight more fierce than in Pennsylvania – in the courts and on the streets.

In Pittsburgh, members of the United Steelworkers made their point through street theater.  Check out the story on their excellent blog – a great source of information on issues involving labor, the economy and income inequality.