In early August, I raised this issue in an e-mail exchange with an NAACP attorney. I asked him if his group provided individual legal assistance, financial aid or transportation to obtain IDs. His reply was that the NAACP “is involved in litigation and advocacy work challenging those restrictive and unnecessary laws.”
Judge Robert E. Simpson, Jr., in his ruling, called the Pennsylvania law a “reasonable, non-discriminatory, non-severe burden when viewed in the broader context of the widespread use of photo ID in daily life.”
Do voter ID opponents want to keep people who don’t have photo IDs from entering the 21st century? More likely, they want an excuse. In 2000, liberals blamed their electoral loss on the design of certain ballots. In 2004, it was electronic voting machines made by a company owned by a Republican. With so many close races to be decided this November, it appears liberals are looking for a handy excuse to challenge their losses.
David W. Almasi is the executive director of the National Center for Public Policy Research, a Washington, D.C. think tank and parent organization of the Voter ID Task Force.
