Voter suppression efforts in PA still alive and well

[MadrasT]

Heard this on the radio last night (KYW 1060, local AM news-and-traffic station) and blew a gasket. There are new 10 billboards up Philadelphia that look like this:



(Translation "This Election Day, if you have it, show it".)

Implementation of the new voter ID law was delayed until after this election. These billboards are confusing and make it seem like you need ID to vote now.

Spanish billboards give voters the wrong ID-ea

A JUDGE RULED earlier this month that a state-approved voter ID was not needed to cast a ballot in the presidential race Nov. 6, but voter-rights advocates say state billboards about the law are confusing people.

Like the 10 ads placed in predominantly Hispanic communities with a photo of a woman holding up her driver's license. "Esta jornada electoral si la tienes muestrala," it reads in Spanish, which means: "This Election Day, if you have it, show it."

"It's causing confusion with voters and now a lot of anger in the Hispanic community," Juan Ramos, a former Philadelphia City Council member and head of the Delaware Valley Voter Registration Education Project, said at a news conference in City Hall on Monday. He said the billboards went up last week. "The state should emphasize that you don't need it to vote."

The billboard were put up by THE PENNSYLVANIA DEPARTMENT OF STATE.

And they refuse to take them down.

Ron Ruman, a spokesman for the Department of State, said that voters will have to show identification in elections after November and that the ads are to educate people. He said the ads, focused in urban areas, would not be removed.

Link: Spanish billboards give voters the wrong ID-ea