The Pennsylvania voter identification law is in the commonwealth court now. The defendants (the commonwealth of Pennsylvania) have made an interesting stipulation (pdf). They have agreed that there have been no investigations or prosecutions of in-person voter fraud in the state, and that they have no personal knowledge of any such voter fraud. They have agreed not to introduce any evidence of voter fraud in Pennsylvania or anywhere else, nor will they argue that any voter fraud is likely to occur in future elections.
They are arguing that voting is not a fundamental right and that they do not have to show any rationale for their voter ID law. The reason they think voting is not a fundamental right is because the court upheld a law barring felons from voting. That’s a very weak argument. The reason they don’t think they have to offer any rationale is because the Supreme Court ruled that way in the Indiana case. But the Indiana case was fought under U.S. Constitution rules, and this case is being fought under Pennsylvania Constitution rules, and the PA Constitution is explicit about voting being a fundamental right.
Perhaps their weakest argument is that the law is needed to produce confidence in the electorate about the integrity of the vote. But the Republicans’ lies about voter fraud are what undermined that confidence and the best way to restore confidence would be to tell their wing-nut fanboys what they’ve already stipulated to in court. There is no in-person voter fraud in Pennsylvania, nor is there any reason to believe there will be any in the future.
Their case is weak and I expect them to lose.
