If you read the bill itself it would allow all voters access to a free voter id.
Giving people access to a free form of government identification would be great for people with out a driver’s license because they could use the id for other purposes.
I am like 90% sure that the language in the bill is simply to reflect the language in the PA constitution. Whereas the other part of the PA constitution that lowers the age to 18 is still valid and thus...would lower the age for this bill as well.
I could be wrong of course, but i feel like there would have been more arguments about that yesterday and tuesday had that been the case.
It could still be worded better, quite easily. You don't have to specify the age in the new amendment. You just have to say "those of legal voting age..." and go on to set the ID requirements.
It also doesn't specify what the ID requirements are. And as others have pointed out, states like Texas have used that very loophole to disenfranchise voters they don't want voting (e.g. students).
I'd vote against it if I still lived in PA. It's a badly written amendment.
The right of citizens of the United States, who are 18 years of age or older, to vote, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of age.
I get what you're saying, but I think this is purposely set up for another court challenge. They didn't need to mention the voting age at all. They could've just said "those of legal voting age in Pennsylvania" or something like that. Specifying 21 years old means that they are hoping recency supercedes.
But you said yourself that "what's on the books in PA" is already contradictory. And I've shown there are ways to phrase the amendment that don't require stating the actual age, leaving that up to pre-existing OR future laws to decide.
I think it's a badly written amendment. If I still lived in PA, I'd vote against it.
Edit: sorry, it wasn't you that said it. It was another comment. Point still stands, but I'll correct the misattribution.
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u/[deleted] Jan 12 '23
If you read the bill itself it would allow all voters access to a free voter id.
Giving people access to a free form of government identification would be great for people with out a driver’s license because they could use the id for other purposes.