Common Cause of Pennsylvania, which describes itself as “a nonpartisan, nonprofit advocacy organization founded in 1970 as a vehicle for citizens to make their voices heard in the political process and to hold their elected leaders accountable to the public interest,” filed an amicus brief in support of Petitioners’ challenge to the PA Photo ID Law. Common Cause raises three main arguments:
First, Common Cause argues that there is no evidence of voter impersonation fraud in Pennsylvania, thereby undermining one of the Commonwealth’s purported rationales for passing the law. Common Cause points to statements by the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania, “the entity representing the people who actually carry out Pennsylvania elections,” to the effect that the County Commissioners are aware of no evidence of voter impersonation fraud. Common Cause also cites to what it labels as a concession by Secretary of State Aichele that there is no evidence of voter impersonation fraud in Pennsylvania. In addition, Common Cause discusses studies published by various organizations and journals that looked for but found no evidence of voter impersonation fraud.
Second, Common Cause cites to studies showing that voter ID laws do not increase voter confidence and, to the contrary, undermine voter confidence by leading voters to incorrectly believe that the system is infested with voter impersonation fraud. These studies, Common Cause argues, undermine the Commonwealth’s other purported rationale for the Photo ID Law — to increase voter confidence in the system.
Third, citing to various pieces of evidence including comments by House Majority Leader Turzai, Common Cause argues that the Photo ID Law is a partisan effort by Republicans to suppress voters from groups that predominantly vote Democratic.
