HARRISBURG, October 2, 2012 — State Sen. Tim Solobay today released the following statement on today’s Commonwealth Court ruling:
“The goal of making sure our elections are fair and accurate is something we can all support. If that requires an identification card, so be it.
Like a lot of others, I was never convinced that election reform was possible with this law or convinced that it was the real intent.
Obviously there was a clumsy rush to get it done before Nov. 6, and that had election officials tripping all over themselves.
Millions of dollars have been spent giving people conflicting and inaccurate information.
Unfortunately it comes at a time when state revenue is scarce and the administration is cutting back on families with disabled children, battered women and food pantries.
By the time the case was back in Judge Simpson’s hands, I don’t think anybody knew what the requirements were and that includes the people who were supposed to be issuing the ID cards.
I’m going to tell people who call my office to continue to try to get a photo ID card because it might be required some day.
But in the meantime, just go vote and let the 50 lawyers involved sort the rest of it out.
Without the presidential election to interfere, maybe we can put together a more thoughtful and long-term solution to secure elections by getting ideas from everyone who has a stake in the process.”
