CITY HALL SAM: Brady Coordinates Plan For Voter IDs

Some voters may be turned away from the polls this November, but Philadelphia Democratic Chairman CONGRESSMAN BOB BRADY is fighting to make sure everyone can vote.  Especially seniors, the disabled and minorities that have been targeted for surgical voting roadblocks by the new Republican voter-ID Law.

The voter-ID law was concocted by GOV. TOM CORBETT and Harrisburg Republicans to help MITT ROMNEY win Pennsylvania. Republican House MAJORITY LEADER MIKE TURZAI’S blunt admission was caught on video and replayed numerous times by local, state, and national media.

To help ensure that no one is turned away at the polls,  Brady held a meeting this week with Democratic ward leaders, elected officials, labor leaders, the NAACP, the Committee of Seventy, the Philadelphia Black Clergy, and the League of Women Voters. During the meeting, the Congressman and community leaders discussed ways to ensure people have proper identification. They discussed trying to create a mobile PennDOT voter-identification unit, transporting residents to PennDOT centers to obtain IDs, and working with community centers. STATE REP. ANGEL CRUZ offered to help all Philadelphians born in Puerto Rico obtain their Puerto Rico birth certificates.

Other elected officials and power players attending the meeting included Democratic City COMMISSIONERS ANTHONY CLARK and STEPHANIE SINGER, City COUNCIL MEMBERS BOB HENON, MARIAN TASCO and JIM KENNEY, STATE SENS. TONY WILLIAMS and LARRY FARNESE, and STATE REPS. JOHN SABATINA, ROSITA YOUNGBLOOD and MARK COHEN. Leader of the Philadelphia AFL-CIO PAT EIDING attended, as did representatives from several of the Philly AFL CIO locals, MICHAEL CLARKE from the Teamsters, and MARITA CRAWFORD, political director for IBEW Local 98.

Notably absent from the meeting was Philadelphia MAYOR MICHAEL NUTTER. Mayor Nutter sent representatives to the meeting to discuss city efforts to help people obtain voter ID. The Mayor may have been busy preparing for his speech to the Democratic National Convention. The convention takes place next week in Charlotte. The Mayor is looking to raise his national profile, and possibly join the Obama Administration in Washington, DC.

A Philadelphian who knows quite a bit about DC and Presidential administrations is former US SEN. ARLEN SPECTER. Sadly, Sen. Specter is once again battling cancer. Specter is well known for his keen ability to fight and survive in both the political and health-care arenas. He beat cancer a few years ago, and vowed to win his current bout with cancer. He is eyeing a return to the squash court. CHS hopes Specter is also able to return to Citizens Bank Park to watch his beloved Phillies.

Specter and other baseball fans would love to see Rollins, Utley and Howard turn a triple play.  Not every fan gets to see a triple play, but they generate a lot of buzz when they happen. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court will consider a “triple play” of important issues next month. The evenly divided court will hear arguments on the new voter-identification law, the legislative redistricting plan, and a law that prohibits municipalities from using zoning to regulate natural gas drilling. The legal community and politicos are eagerly chattering about the outcome of these decisions, and if the court will be able to reach consensus on any or all of these issues. Sam will offer his prognostication next week.

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