Pa. House Begins Debate on Voter ID Bill

A variety of opposition amendments were considered on Monday

A state House decision on a controversial voter ID bill was put off for at least one more day.

Pa. House Democrats are running into staunch Republican resistance in their attempts to stop a bill to require all voters to show specific photo identification before their ballot could be counted.

The bill was expected to pass Tuesday after majority Republicans defeated various Democratic-penned amendments Monday.

The Republican bill would give Pennsylvania one of the nation's toughest voter ID laws in what Republicans say is an effort to prevent voting fraud.

But Democrats say it'll make it harder for the elderly, poor and disabled to obtain the required ID/s and to ultimately have their votes counted.

Opponents say the bill is designed to solve a problem that doesn't exist. They also say Republicans are trying to suppress votes by traditional Democratic constituencies in a presidential election year.

Current law requires a voter to show acceptable ID the first time voting in a given precinct. The new law would expand the requirement to show a current photo ID for every election.

The bill was originally passed by the House last year. It was amended and approved by the state Senate last week and sent back to the House for final consideration.

Republican Gov. Tom Corbett says he'll sign it, which would make Pa. the 16th state to enact stricter voter ID rules.

Read more about House Bill 934 here.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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