Religious questions for Pa. voter ID law draw fire

[rug]

By Jan Murphy| Religion News Service, Updated: Thursday, April 12, 4:41 PM

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Nothing is sacred about your religion when it comes to getting a state identification card without a photo.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation offers ID cards for those with religious objections to being photographed, including the Amish and certain Mennonite groups. But in order to get a nonphoto ID for religious reasons, applicants must answer a series of 18 questions that delve deeply into their faiths and other personal information.

Now that Pennsylvania has passed one of the nation’s toughest voter ID laws to prevent voter fraud, the scope of the questions is drawing criticism.

The first item on PennDOT’s form asks applicants to “describe your religion.” It is followed by more questions that devout followers might struggle to answer, and some that inquire about the lives of family members:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/pa-religious-questions-for-pa-voter-id-law-draw-fire/2012/04/12/gIQAtYdKDT_story.html

[lunasun]

1. Torquemada on his way to PA for a possible gig I see

[saras]

2. Which religions are AUTHORIZED to object to photographs? FSM? Subgenius? Discordians?

[yellowcanine]

3. Hoisted on their own petard. Many Amish who do vote will vote Republican.

[kestrel91316]

4. The Amish, of course, will quietly accept loss of voting rights if they

can't get around the photo loophole. But the RW will notice the loss of that voting block, lol.