Why Judy Schwank said no to voter ID

Senator Judy Schwank of Berks County just sent an email to her listserv, and it included an explanation of why she voted "no" on HB 934, the voter ID bill:

I voted against this bill for an inspiring woman named Anna Urban, who I met several years ago.

Anna, who resided in the Millmont section of Reading, worked in the city’s garment mills all her life. At age 95, she was proud that her voting record dated back to the Great Depression.

She didn’t drive but she wanted to vote on Election Day so she called 9-1-1. The county emergency dispatch center put her in contact with Election Services, which, in turn, referred her to me. I happily offered her a ride.

When Anna walked in to the polling place on my arm, you would have thought she was Lady Liberty herself. She was so happy to be there. It was inspiring to see this woman’s determination to exercise her right to vote.

It would be the last vote Anna Urban ever cast, as she died shortly after the election.

If this bill is enacted into law and she were alive today to vote in the November 2012 election, she would be required to cast a provisional vote that possibly would not count, simply because she didn’t have photo identification. She would have six days to obtain proper identification. For a woman in her nineties with trouble walking and obtaining a ride to her polling place, let alone to a driver’s license center, this would be a challenging task.

Undoubtedly, this measure will have a negative impact on voting citizens who, like Anna, do not drive and therefore do not have a driver’s license.

Voting is a right. It should not be an endurance test.

Reader who can't tell his comedians from a hole in the ground saddened that Mike O'Pake's seat went to a Commie

Because Judy Schwank only received 58% of the vote, 42% of the people will be disheartened that the governor will have one less vote in his bid to throw Pennsylvania's children under the school bus. They are going to moan that special elections are some sort of pinko Communist conspiracy, run by welfare mothers and followers of the god Atlas. Here is one such highly intelligent observation, courtesy of a grouch who thinks Rufus T. Firefly was portrayed by Larry Fine. Doesn't Facebook have a policy against slandering dead comedians? If this what Harry Deitz meant when he talked about a return to civility in the newspaper's online comments?

The thumping

Judy Schwank won handily, 21,124 to 14,794, as she should have, given the Democrats' 54-32 percent registration edge in the district. That will give the GOP ammo to say the vote was not a referendum on Gov. Tom Corbett's budget plan to slice state funding for education by half and Larry Medaglia's enthusiastic endorsement of same. They could always say the voters were simply disgusted by the state committee's filthy campaign tactics. But this was the first post-Wisconsin race where workers -- teachers -- had a voice, and the voice was loud and clear.

You can access the precinct by precinct totals here. Too bad the county can't hire an IT specialist with English-language skills so you wouldn't have such illiteracies as "Precinct's in Report."

Special election open thread

Post your predictions then sit back and get all mean and nasty if your favorite does not win. (Judy 53-47, with higher than expected turnout.)

Senate candidates stage debate, don't field any questions about Charlie Sheen

Judy Schwank and Larry Medaglia got together for a debate yesterday, and what did they talk about? Farms. State stores. Whether your property taxes are too damn high. What they did not discuss was the hot-button issue of the day, Charlie Sheen. Is he too damn high? Should the state bail out "Two and a Half Men" to get it back on the air? Mike O'Pake would have been all over this like a magnet, because he would do whatever it takes to get elected. You have got to address what matters to the people.

More keen gossip.

Christian Leinbach publishes the phone numbers of GOP executive committee members, on the Facebooks

The county GOP has a big shindig planned for tonight. They are going to select the candidate who will run up against Judy Schwank in the special election to fill Mike O'Pake's seat. The party fully realizes that Judy will win by something like 65%-35% and will be a fixture at every county photo-op for the next 38 years. But, hey, this will give some faithful party lapdog the chance to keep his name in front of the voters during the run-up to the next election, even if the timing of the special election will mean Berks' school children will fall further behind the Chinese and will hate politics for a generation to come.

Leinbach, for whatever reason, supports the minority candidate, Michael Rivera, and in a GOTV move to drum up support has posted the phone numbers of executive committee members so his Facebook friends can get on the horn and lobby.

You may want to call all of these individuals this very instant. Or you may want to wait and phone when your street is not plowed Tuesday morning, at 3 a.m. You may even want to phone and urge them to support Judy, since even token opposition is futile.

By the by, Judy has been more active on Facebook today than she has been in six months, so this is getting serious. Last one up with a Twitter account is a rotten egg!

Judy Schwank will be the next Mike O'Pake, it says on the Facebooks

Nothing official, but former County Commissioner Judy Schwank apparently has mailed some letter to important people saying she's ready to fill in for Mike O'Pake for the next 35 years. (Campaign tip: Vow to keep the late senator's staff intact; the voters know how well they got the job done.)