>My paternal ancestor also escaped from oppression, hiding his roots so effectively that we can't track ancestry any further back from him.
>
>In the interests of balance- it has been suggested to me that those with no ID can in fact get one for free from the State Department of Transportation. If true, then all the Dems need do is organize transportation and motivation for obvious demographic groups to access the free IDs. In which case this could be an own goal if there really are people hoping to disenfranchise. ;-)

Yes, in PA, I believe you can the ID for free under some circumstances. But as I've said elsewhere in the thread, you need to have proof of identity, which boils down to a birth certificate or naturalization certificate. Also, an SS card and two proofs of residency (that last shouldn't be hard). Here's the DMV's page for this:

http://www.dmv.state.pa.us/voter/voteridlaw.shtml

I do see that, for people born in PA, they actually have a procedure to verify the birth without the person bringing the birth certificate. But that still leaves out people born elsewhere or those without birth certificates.

And the issues about when you can get to the DMV still apply. If it's only open when you work, that's a problem. I think, in the light of this law, the DMV should be offering evening and Sunday hours until the election.

Tamar