State trying to overturn Pittsburgh's ban on fracking within city limits

Amy Goodman interviews former Pittsburgh City Council member Doug Shields.

Pennsylvania voters triple-whammied in one day

By Heather Turner
 
Pennsylvania voters have suddenly found themselves triple whammied.

 On the same day Judge Robert E. Simpson released his baffling 70 page ruling on the validity of Pennsylvania's new voter ID law, the Department of State quietly issued an email to county election officials explaining that it would drop two initiatives intended to boost voting. The initiatives would have allowed citizens to register to vote online and to apply online for absentee ballots for the upcoming election. The reasons, according to an unidentified Department of State spokesperson and Department of State Commissioner, Jonathan Marks: it's too much work! All efforts and resources, it seems, are focused on implementing the new voter ID law.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports today that after the Commonwealth Court ruled in favor of the state's strict voter-ID law—a law many believe will result in fewer people being able to vote—Corbett's administration opted to abandon two different efforts intended to boost the vote. The state will no longer try to make online voter registration available this year, nor can those who need to vote absentee submit their applications online. That's a big deal. Pennsylvania doesn't just allow anyone to vote absentee; you have to show proof that you cannot be at the polls for one of the acceptable reasons. Without the online option, those needing an absentee ballot will have to either mail in their application or deliver it in person. Meanwhile, online registration simply streamlines the process, creating less paperwork and requiring less effort for the would-be voter. According to the Pennsylvania Department of State, it's too much work to implement both the voter-ID law and these new reforms.

Let's just be clear on the situation here. These online systems make it easier to vote. Pennsylvania is not going to pursue those, because its hands are full with the voter ID-law that makes it harder to vote. The law, which requires voters to show a government-issued identification is among the strictest in the country; to get an ID in the Keystone state is no easy feat: It requires a birth certificate, Social Security card, as well as two proofs of address.

Santorum Suspends Campaign

Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum announced he was suspending his campaign at a press conference in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. His exit from the campaign all but assures that Mitt Romney will be challenging Barack Obama for the presidency in November.

It's unclear why he picked today as the day to step aside, although a look at the polls in his home state offer a clue. According to Public Policy Polling, Romney was leading Santorum in the polls among likely Pennsylvania voters by a score of 42 to 37 percent. Many people argued that Romney's campaign would not survive if he could not win his home state of Michigan, so perhaps Santorum saw the doom facing his own political future if he couldn't win in Pennsylvania.