DAILY GRINDER: No Joke: SEPTA Named Best Transit in U.S.
SEPTA…(SEPTA!)…has been named…the…best…“large transit system”…in…North…America…by the…American Public Transportation Association. That was hard to get through. But anyway, the group called them “the best” because of things like their environmentally friendly construction, hybrid buses and something about “financial management”?...
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Advocates Say Population Having Trouble Getting ‘Free’ IDs
Benjamin Mitchell has spent the last few months trying to help low-income people obtain new voter-ID cards. An outreach specialist at the New Pathways Project, a pre-treatment drug program in Center City, Mitchell admits the process has been a bit daunting. “In my small circle, I have not run into anyone I have been able to get an ID for, yet,” he says. “And...
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U.S. Justice Dept. Wants Info Relating to ‘99 Percent’ of Pennsylvania Voters
Attorney General Eric Holder in City Hall Late yesterday, the U.S. Dept. of Justice released a letter it sent to Carol Aichele, acting secretary of the Commonwealth, saying it will be probing Pennsylvania’s Voter ID law to make sure the state is in compliance with Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. This section “prohibits voting practices or procedures that...
Continue ReadingCommonwealth Court to Hear Testimony in Voter-ID Case
The ACLU of Pennsylvania has its day in court this week when the civil-rights group and others challenge the legality of the state’s voter-ID law, which was passed in March and requires that all Pennsylvania voters bring a valid government-issued identification to the polls when they vote, from November 2012 on. To prepare the press for the landmark trial,...
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AARP Says Senior Voters Will Suffer From Voter-ID Law
Philadelphia City Commissioner Stephanie Singer speaks about Pennsylvania's Voter ID law. “You’re people and you vote,” Philadelphia City Commissioner Stephanie Singer told a crowd of about 100 AARP members and volunteers yesterday at Independence Mall. “That means when your leaders go to the government, your leaders are respected and your leaders...
Continue ReadingDAILY GRINDER: New State Voter ID Card Coming?
Pennsylvania officials said they will soon unveil a new state identification card which will make it easier to vote. (?) It will be “formerly announced” in the next few weeks. (?) “If you can’t meet the PennDot requirements for a non-driving ID because you are having trouble getting the necessary documentation together, there will be a way for...
Continue ReadingDAILY GRINDER: City Council Raise Kindly Being Donated—to President Obama
City Council is up for a payraise. Six members—Mark Squilla, Curtis Jones, Darrell Clarke, Bobby Henon, Jim Kenny and David Oh—have announced they’d be either rejecting the raise or giving it away. Kenyatta Johnson, Maria Quiñones-Sánchez, Blondell Reynolds Brown and Bill Green are taking it. But not all those under the “rejecting/giving it away”...
Continue ReadingNew Brennan Center Report Shows Worse Voter ID Picture
As much as we and others have been reporting on new Voter ID restrictions in Pennsylvania, turns out it’s looking far worse for people across the country where similar photo ID laws have been laid out for similar stated purposes. The Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law’s research has consistently been at the forefront of this...
Continue Reading![Document on VotesPA.com STILL Doesn’t Mention Voter ID Law [UPDATED]](http://blogs.philadelphiaweekly.com/phillynow/files/2012/07/IDwhenyouvote-150x150.png)
Document on VotesPA.com STILL Doesn’t Mention Voter ID Law [UPDATED]
A Voter Registration document on VotesPa.com sent over by Melody Kramer notes several requirements and instructions to register to vote in Pennsylvania—but nowhere does it mention the increasingly controversial Voter ID law. Said document, found here, was sent over by the tipster after she went to the Pennsylvania Dept. of State’s website to change her...
Continue ReadingDCCC Starts Online Petition to Fight ‘Voter Suppression in Pennsylvania’
As more information comes out regarding the Pennsylvania Voter ID law—and how ill-equipped the state is to enact it this year—the Democratic Party has been increasingly fighting it. Now, they’ve started an online petition to fight it, calling the law “Republican Voter Suppression in Pennsylvania.” “In a highly partisan move, PA Republican Gov. Tom...
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