[EL] Lead Penn Voter ID Plaintiff gets her ID

[Greenberg, Kevin]

As someone who practices in Philadelphia, I can only say that the
Schmidt report showed a number of cases of simple poll worker error
(i.e. allowing someone to vote in the wrong primary because they didn't
flip a switch) and a nine serious problems over the last 10 years in a
city of 1.4 million people.  

 

One is a woman who voted twice in a single election.  This is the only
"new" discovery by Schmidt and was referred to the DA.  As it should
have been.

 

Seven were non-citizens who voted.  Serious offenses, but in each case
the intent appears to have been innocent.  (apparently another 12
non-citizens registered but did not vote over the 10 year period
reviewed)

 

The final matter was a single case of two fraudulent registrations, in
similar names at nearby addresses, which cast votes (the Joseph
Cheeseboroughs).  Under prior law, the second of these had been subject
to an ID check  in 2003 when he voted in person for the first time at
the location.  He had evaded it, presumably with fake ID.

 

This matter was well known to the local bar because the civil service
staff had, well before Al Schmidt was elected, identified the issue,
reported on it in a public meeting of the Board of Elections, referred
the matter to the DA, opened a formal investigation, and was going
through the process to cancel the registrations.

 

Philadelphia is probably one of the stronger jurisdictions in the
country in terms of handling registrations and voting, at least since
major reforms a little more than a decade ago.  That's not saying
Philadelphia does not have petition fraud or absentee voter fraud, but
neither of those have anything to do with the proposed solution.

 

From: law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu
[mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu] On Behalf Of John
Meyer
Sent: Friday, August 17, 2012 3:44 PM
To: law-election at department-lists.uci.edu
Subject: Re: [EL] Lead Penn Voter ID Plaintiff gets her ID

 

I think many of you may have read this, but it is relevant to the
question of need for voter ID requirements with specific reference to
Pennsylvania

as it includes reference to an actual, recent look at various voting
irregularities in Philadelphia:

 

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/314273/voter-fraud-keystone-state
-john-fund
<http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/314273/voter-fraud-keystone-stat
e-john-fund> 

 

                    I certainly am not an expert on Pennsylvania voter
problems, but it is well-known in political circles that both parties
used to have areas where they would

manufacture votes by various methods. with the demise of big-city
Republican machines, the tendency became more party-specific -- and even
more so with

the collapse of some of the Republican suburban machines, such as Nassau
county in New York (I don't know if Nassau County R's actually
manufactured votes

or if they only followed the 1% of salary for all public employees
tradition).  Anyway, I do recommend the article.   

 

________________________________

From: Jon Roland <jon.roland at constitution.org>
To: law-election at department-lists.uci.edu 
Sent: Friday, August 17, 2012 12:26 PM
Subject: Re: [EL] Lead Penn Voter ID Plaintiff gets her ID

 

In general there are no requirements for a plaintiff to prove identity
to file a case, in any jurisdiction. Identification comes in with being
a witness and providing evidence, such as presenting an affidavit, which
must be sworn before a notary or other designated verifier. Of course,
the attorney will be expected to provide his name, address, and bar card
number, but he will usually not have to otherwise prove he is who he
says he is, and his client can be a "John Doe". Even a witness may be
anonymous with the consent of the court. 

The elevation of personal identity to the importance accorded it today
is an innovation in our legal tradition. Historically it has had much
less importance, usually where ownership of property was involved.

On 08/17/2012 11:07 AM, Michael McDonald wrote: 

The state of Pennsylvania has a more strict
identification law for voting than to be a plaintiff in a case?

 

-- Jon
 
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2900 W Anderson Ln C-200-322           twitter.com/lex_rex
Austin, TX 78757 512/299-5001  jon.roland at constitution.org
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