Secretary of Commonwealth Issues Statement on Voter ID

HARRISBURG, Pa., June 25, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Secretary of the Commonwealth Carol Aichele today issued the following statement on Pennsylvania's Voter ID law. Arguments on whether to fully implement the law will be heard before Commonwealth Court in Harrisburg July 15.

"Pennsylvania's Voter ID law is intended to preserve the integrity of every vote by giving us a common sense means of verifying the identity of each voter who appears at the polls to cast a ballot,'' Aichele said.

Any registered voter who does not have an acceptable ID for voting can get one.

The information that is given to get a Department of State voter ID card, at any of the 71 PennDOT driver license centers across Pennsylvania, is the same information that must be provided in order to register to vote.

To get a DOS voter ID, you must provide to PennDOT:

• Your name
• Your date of birth
• Your address
• The last four digits of your Social Security number

To register to vote, you must provide your county election office:

• Your name
• Your date of birth
• Your address
• Either your PA driver's license number, or your Social Security number

Any registered voter has been able to get a DOS voter ID card by simply giving the above information, with no documentation needed, since this process was implemented in September 2012.   

DOS voter ID cards are good for 10 years, so a voter must go to PennDOT only once a decade to get a free photo ID for voting. Voters may also, if they possess the needed documents, get a non-driver photo ID from PennDOT, which is good for four years.

In addition, many other photo IDs, provided they have expiration dates, are acceptable for voting. These include the following IDs:

• Any ID issued by the federal government or Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
• An employee ID issued by a Pennsylvania county or municipality
• An ID issued by a Pennsylvania college or university
• An ID issued by a Pennsylvania care facility, including nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and long term care facilities
• Military IDs, including active and retired

Pennsylvanians have been informed about the Voter ID law through a $5 million, multi-media advertising campaign in 2012, as well as extensive community outreach including public meetings, and print, radio, Internet, and television news stories.

Extensive information on this law is available at www.votespa.com. 

Voters have also been educated by "soft rollouts" of the law during the last three elections, during which voters have been asked, but not required, to show photo ID, and given information about the law if they did not have acceptable ID.

Should the court order full implementation of the Voter ID law, the Corbett Administration will, through the media, again remind voters about this law.

Information on the Voter ID law is available at www.votespa.com, or by calling 1-877-VOTESPA (868-3772).

Media contact: Ron Ruman 717-783-1621

SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of State