Pennsylvania Senate Approves Bill Requiring Voters To Present Photo ID At Polls
By Tony Romeo
HARRISBURG, Pa. (CBS) - The state senate has approved a controversial measure that would require voters to show photo ID at polling places in Pennsylvania.
The relatively close vote in the senate broke down largely along party lines with Republicans like Dominic Pileggi of Chester, the senate majority leader, favoring the voter photo ID requirement.
"This bill is a simple, common sense measure to protect the integrity of the voting process."
But during senate debate on the bill, Democrats like Vince Hughes of Philadelphia said there's no evidence that the kind of voter fraud Republicans are worried about actually occurs.
"This is a solution searching for a problem, and the problem with that, Mr. President, is the fact that it tramples over the rights of people who intend to vote legitimately."
The bill was already passed by the House, but was amended in the Senate… so it must go back to the House, which is expected to take it up again next week. It's intended to be in effect for the November election, but opponents are already talking court challenges.
