In taking action to veto the bill, Governor Rendell said, "I am vetoing this bill because I believe it violates the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. It also places an unnecessary new burden on electors that will result in some losing their right to vote, and I will do all I can to make sure that actions like this cannot happen on my watch."
"With voter participation in our country dropping to alarming levels, the government should not be taking action that will turn away bona fide voters from our polls," the Governor said.
Governor Rendell said that those who want to decrease voter participation by passing this bill did so under the ruse that voters need to show identification to prevent voter fraud. The Governor added that he is concerned that the legislation would have disenfranchised people living in nursing homes, a displaced family or the state's poorest, who may not have any government-issued identification.
"No one can tell me how these citizens are going to be able to vote under this proposal," the Governor said.
Just a few weeks ago, on President's Day at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Governor Rendell announced his plan to veto the bill, noting that, "The founders of our democracy fought to put the power to govern this nation into the hands of the people, and as a result, they wrote documents to help us preserve a true democracy."
Governor Rendell said it is easy to say that those who attempt to vote without identification will be given a provisional ballot, "but far too many of those ballots will not be counted because the very individuals who use them because they lack identification will be unable to attend a challenge of their provisional vote, such as seniors, those who are homebound, or those who are in nursing homes. They will not be able to go to a courthouse to defend their rights and, as a result, their right to vote will be stolen."
The Governor also said the bill does not address major issues that make it difficult for overseas and military voters to cast their ballots. "This bill does not contain any of the elements necessary to enable our men and women who are on active duty deployment within the U.S., for instance, in New Orleans on pre-deployment bases for going overseas to fight, to be able to vote.
"If the Legislature agrees with me that it is urgent that we remove all barriers to voting for our deployed military personnel, they should pass HB 544, which contains all of the changes that my Election Reform Commission identified." That bill was introduced in the House by Rep. Flo Fabrizio last October.
The Governor said these provisions permit computer electronic transmissions for absentee ballot applications; earlier filing deadlines for independent candidates so that ballots can be printed earlier and sent overseas in time for the voter to return the ballot before the deadline; and, clear deadlines for county absentee ballot preparation so that that every appropriately-cast vote can be counted.
Under House Bill 1318, every voter would be required to show some form of identification at every election such as a valid driver's license; a U.S. passport; a student, employee or government ID; a county voter registration card; a firearm permit; a current utility bill or current pay statement; or, a paycheck or government check. For those unable to obtain photo identification, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation would be required to issue non-driver identification free-of-charge.
