Have you ever bullied a PennDOT employee into giving a man the
free ID that he deserved? Until Wednesday afternoon I would have said,
"No." More on this later.
Wednesday, April 18 was Pittsburgh's voter ID action, held at noon
at the Smithfield Street PennDOT Driver's License Center in downtown
Pittsburgh. The action was organized by the Protect Our Vote coalition and
modeled after the event held in Philadelphia shortly after the voter ID law was
signed by the governor.
Driving down to the rally, I wasn’t expecting much other than what
we put in the media advisory: a set of people getting free IDs, advocates
holding signs, and a press conference. But it has been said that one has be an
optimist to do the work of a community organizer. Perhaps that's why I thought
that PennDOT would be far more prepared to respond to the demand for free,
state-issued, non-driver photo IDs for voting purposes. At the very least I
figured, since our coalition of organizations and activists had been aggressively
advertising for one and a half weeks, PennDOT would respond by putting
their most polite, seasoned, and trained staff to work that day to prove us
wrong.
...Did I mention that I'm an optimist?
On the day of the action people seeking free IDs for the purpose
of voting each filed into the DMV with an advocate. So why would someone need
an advocate to get a free non-driver photo ID? Because more than a month since
the law passed, PennDOT employees were not trained, were not courteous, and
were not ready.
Here are just a couple examples of misinformation from PennDOT
employees:
* Two people were forced to pay for their non-driver IDs because
their IDs had not yet been expired for a year. So, while their IDs would be
more than a year past expiration on November 6th and thus invalid for voting,
they had to pay for IDs on Wednesday, April 18th.
* A couple from Wilkinsburg who had lost their non-driver photo
IDs were turned away. These citizens of the commonwealth (both currently
unemployed) were told that they could not get a free ID for voting purposes
because they had lost their previous IDs.
I personally helped a man who had been turned away for no reason.
My conversation with a PennDOT employee went like this:
Me: I'm sorry, could you explain why this gentleman can't get an
ID?
PennDOT: The IDs are primarily for people who have never before
had an ID in Pennsylvania.
Me: He needs this ID to be able to vote in the November election
and he has all of the required documents…
PennDOT: There are a number of other IDs that one can use to vote
in the November election. Student ID, state employee ID…
Me: [To the person I'm helping] You're not a student are you? An
employee of a college or university? A member of the US armed forces?
Slightly embarrassed, exhausted Pennsylvanian: Um, no.
We went on like this for a little longer before the PennDOT employee
finally let the man go through. At this point I was certain that a new PennDOT
training manual must include a picture of a dragon guarding a treasure and a
caption that says, "When a Pennsylvanian asks you for a free ID for
voting, remember that state issued IDs are precious. Always think: WWDD? What
would a dragon do?"
Sheesh.
I left the rally with a stack of intake forms and a furrowed brow.
On the drive back I was fuming. Why
were they making this so hard? Why weren't they ready? And if that's how I felt, I can
guarantee that the people who came down to get voting IDs also felt…taxed.
Certainly emotionally, some physically, and for a good number,
financially.
- Ngani Ndimbie, ACLU-PA Community Organizer
Labels: voter ID