USW Applauds Pennsylvania Supreme Court Decision in Voter ID Case

PITTSBURGH, Sept. 18, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The United Steelworkers (USW) union today lauded the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling ordering a lower court to reconsider its decision to support a restrictive new voter suppression law.

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"The Pennsylvania so-called Voter-ID law disenfranchises women, minorities, the elderly and the young and must be halted before the election to ensure a fair election process," said USW International President Leo W. Gerard. "The Pennsylvania Supreme Court took the first step towards halting this unreasonable law."

USW International Vice President Fred Redmond said the USW is fighting hard in this election to ensure no voter is disenfranchised. "Although this decision by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court is not final, the so-called Voter ID law creates problems for as many as 800,000 Pennsylvanians who are registered to vote but would face difficulties getting the mandated forms of identification that would be required by this law to vote."

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court sent the case back to the Commonwealth Court for reconsideration. A key concern of the Supreme Court is that the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) has not made ID cards liberally available, as required by the statute, because of security concerns. The Supreme Court instructs the lower court to grant a preliminary injunction stopping implementation of the law if either PennDOT's procedures do not meet the law's requirement of easy access or if the Commonwealth Court remains convinced no one will be disenfranchised as the law is implemented.

"All of this so-called Voter ID legislation addresses problems that do not exist anywhere, including Pennsylvania," said Gerard.

The USW represents about 850,000 workers in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean in a wide variety of industries, ranging from glassmaking to mining, paper, steel, tire and rubber to the public sector, service and health care industries.

Contacts:
Wayne Ranick, 412-562-2444
[email protected]

SOURCE United Steelworkers (USW)