Voter ID law opponents rally in Center City

NAACP president Benjamin Jealous addresses a rally opposed to Pennsylvania's voter ID law on Sept. 13, 2012. (PETER MUCHA / Inquirer Staff)

By Peter Mucha, Inquirer Staff Writer

Posted: September 14, 2012

About 200 opponents of Pennsylvania's new voter ID law staged a protest across from Philadelphia's City Hall in advance of today's state Supreme Court hearing on the law.

The justices are holding the hearing in the Supreme Court's City Hall courtroom.

Protesters carried signs saying, "All Our Votes Must Count," "Supreme Court, Overturn This Act," and "Say No to Voter ID Schemes" at the hour-long rally organized by the NAACP, Philadelphia Neighborhood Network, MoveOn.org, and the Pennsylvania Voter ID Coalition.

The dozen or so speakers, who included union officials, pastors and City Councilwoman Janey Blackwell, warned about voters being disenfranchised, especially woman, the elderly, students and the poor.

In the crowd prior to the speeches, Gloria Gilman, of MoveOn.org's Philadelphia chapter, said the state has wasted millions of dollars to prevent fraud that hasn't occurred.

The law should be "hunted down, handcuffed" and given a "death sentence," declared Bill Moore, pastor of Tenth Memorial Baptist Church.

"It's a criminal offense against Democracy," said Jerome Mondesire, president of Pennsylvania conference of the NAACP. "... We're not playing, we've never given up, and with God's help we will have victory."

"This is not a Republican thing, it's an extremist thing," said Benjamin Jealous, national head of the NAACP, who said many battles against such vote-suppressing laws have been won in courts and legislatures around the country.

"None of should be sent back to the day when we had what can only be called a poll tax," he said.

Voters were repeatedly urged to register, and if the law is upheld, to be sure to have valid ID.

Know where your polling place is, and show up early, advised Richard Shafer, executive director of the Pennsylvania ACLU.

Contact staff writer Peter Mucha at 215-854-4342 or pmucha@phillynews.com.