(Update) Voter ID on trial in Pennsylvania

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

This trial was originally scheduled for nine days, but it looks as if we are going into extra innings.

The eighth day of trial on Pennsylvania's voter-identification law ended
in disarray Wednesday as plaintiffs' attorneys contesting the law's
constitutionality refused to rest their case until they learn more about
potential problems in issuing mandatory photo ID cards. Pa. voter ID trial recesses in disarray:

Commonwealth Court Judge Bernard McGinley expressed impatience at the slow pace of the trial and cleared the courtroom briefly to huddle with lawyers from both sides, but court recessed for the day with little sign of a compromise. The state did, however, present some testimony in defense of the law.

At issue are about 500 registered voters who were rejected for a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation identification card last year and were referred to the Department of State for a free, voting-only ID card developed in August. The Department of State card was developed as a last resort for voters who certify that they do not have other IDs acceptable for voting.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs say more than 100 of those voters applied for a special voting-only ID card before the 2012 presidential election, but didn't receive them until after the election or, in some cases, at all.

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Nils Frederiksen, spokesman for the state legal team, said the voters cited by the plaintiffs include 144 voters who wound up obtaining a PennDOT ID card after all and should not have been included on the list. Most of the others have received either a PennDOT ID, a "secure" card that requires documentation, or the easier-to-obtain Department of State card, he said. The rest were rejected by county officials, rejected for failing to register to vote, or are awaiting confirmation of registration, he said.

Two Corbett administration officials testified as the respondents opened their case Wednesday. State To Get Its Turn In Pa. Voter ID Trial:

It’s the state’s turn to make its case that Pennsylvania’s voter identification law conforms to the state constitution.

Lawyers in the 8-day-old Commonwealth Court trial are to begin presenting witnesses Wednesday.

The state is still presenting its case on this ninth day of trial. State to call more witnesses in Pa. voter ID trial:

A statistician hired by the state is attacking the methodology of
another expert who says hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvania voters
lack the photo identification they would need to cast ballots under a
pending law.

William Wecker testified Thursday in Commonwealth Court,
criticizing the work of statistician Bernard Siskin that's a key part of
a lawsuit seeking to overturn the law on constitutional grounds.

Wecker says Siskin overstated the number of
voters without IDs by failing to adequately consider voters who have
died, moved out of state or are barred from voting because they are
incarcerated felons.

No word on when the state will wrap up presenting its case and we can get to closing arguments.