Keystone State is Key

Wednesday, a Republican judge in Pennsylvania denied the request for an injunction to stop Pennsylvania's voter ID law from going into effect. This was done in spite of the acknowledgement of all involved with the case that in person voting fraud is practically nonexistent in Pennsylvania. Although the plaintiffs are filing an appeal with the 6 member state Supreme Court, they need four votes to overturn Judge Simpson's ruling. Three of the PA Supreme Court justices are Republican and three Democratic. I don't hold much hope for the appeal to be successful. We've already seen what an ideological, politically motivated court can do – from the denial of the Bush Florida recount to Citizens United. I will be totally surprised if one Republican judge votes on the side of fairness, on the side of the defining right of a democracy.

There is no question but that this law, as others passed in states with Republican-held state legislatures, is intended solely to suppress the vote of minorities and other Democratic voters. These are the voters least likely or able to have the ID's or afford them or, in the case of elderly voters, obtain the birth certificates and other documents necessary. Some grassroots efforts are being started by Al Sharpton and others to help the voters get their ID's. The task they are facing in Pennsylvania is monumental – up to 750,000 registered voters who voted in the 2008 election could be denied their right to vote. All told there are a million registered voters in Pennsylvania without the required ID and one third of registered voters are unaware that an ID law even exists. And there are just 82 days to get the job done – i.e., more than 12,000 people per day need to be getting their ID's.

How important is this? Well, in 2008 Obama took Pennsylvania by 600,000 votes. The math is clear – if 750,000 overwhelmingly Democratic voters were denied their right to vote, John McCain would have carried Pennsylvania in 2008. The race in 2012 is much closer – Obama is not running against the backdrop of the huge Bush failures this time. If these votes are denied or if voters can't get their ID's, Romney will win Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania is critical for Obama's re-election. Obama will not win the Presidency if he loses Pennsylvania.

NY Times columnist Charles Blow has written several insightful columns on the upcoming election recently. In an August 1 blog, he pointed out how the voter suppression laws will, at a minimum, hold down turnout and that polls showing an Obama lead, especially in the many swing states with voter suppression laws, need to be taken with a large grain of salt. In a July 27 column, he notes that Democratic voters are not as enthusiastic about going to the polls as they were in 2008 or even 2004. That column also has some interesting statistics on the money unleashed by Citizen's United and the potential impact of the voter suppression laws. States that have passed restrictive voting laws account for 214 electoral votes – about 79% of the amount needed to win the Presidency.

The right to vote has come under its worst, most outrageous attack since before the Civil Rights era. This has been a well-funded, organized effort to deny legitimate voters one of the most important rights in a democracy. Republicans should be ashamed and Democrats should be outraged. Outraged enough to go to the polls in droves. Get your ID if you can but go to the polls even if you can't get your ID. Demand that your vote be taken and counted. Let the state of Pennsylvania (or any other democracy-deficient state) prove you are not who you say you are.