Rules require photo ID for 1st-time voter

The new rules should prevent people from voting in more than one precinct.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
MERCER, Pa. -- If the April 27 primary is your first voting experience in Pennsylvania, bring a photo ID.
James Bennington, Mercer County's election director, said Pennsylvania is imposing federal election law requirements this year, and first-time voters could be asked to provide proof of identification.
That could be a driver's license, passport, student ID, employee ID or some other form of acceptable photo identification, he said.
Those applying for absentee ballots for the first time could have to produce a photo ID as well, Bennington said.
"It's all this Florida thing," he said, referring to problems in that state in the last presidential election.
Requiring photo identification would prevent people from trying to vote in more than one precinct, something that apparently happened in Florida, Bennington said.
The requirement would also apply to people who move and must vote in a new precinct.
For those without a photo ID, certain nonphoto identifications such as a firearm permit, voter's ID card, a nonphoto ID issued by the government or even a current paycheck may be acceptable.
Provisional ballots
There is another change that makes the paperwork handling elections more difficult and more costly for the county, Bennington said.
For the first time, precincts must have provisional ballots on hand for voters who don't show up in the county's voter registry yet insist they have the right to vote, he said.
Mercer County voting is done by electronic ballots, but the provisional ballots must be printed on paper of a particular color.
Voters whose registry is questioned can fill out the paper ballot, which will be sealed in an envelope and checked by the elections office within three days to determine its validity, Bennington said.
That procedure is also designed to prevent people from voting in more than one precinct, or from voting in the wrong precinct, he said.
A provisional vote cast in the wrong precinct will be added to the totals in the correct precinct.
Mercer County has 100 precincts and each must be given about a dozen paper ballots, he said.