LOCK HAVEN-Lock Haven University is giving their students a chance to vote on Nov. 6 by providing new student photo ID cards with expiration dates on them, according to Linda Koch, vice president of Student Affairs at LHU.
New students automatically received the new cards, while returning students may request a new student ID with an expiration date so they can vote in any election, Koch said at the LHU Council of Trustees meeting Aug. 30.
"We will announce the availability of the new ID during voter registration drives on the campus," Koch wrote in a subsequent e-mail to The Express.
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In order to receive the new ID to vote, however, students must prove they are registered to vote.
"Students requesting a new ID for voting purposes will also need to provide proof of their voter registration," Koch wrote.
The voter registration drive dates on campus are not yet finalized, Koch said.
After requesting a new card, the students will receive them "within a few minutes of having a photo taken," she wrote.
At this point, no returning student has requested a new ID, she said.
The new IDs are provided through the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs and the Student Activities Office. The Student Activities Office photographs the students and prints the ID cards.
The telecommunications office designed the cards.
"The telecommunications office provided the new design of the card and the needed information that was required to have an expiration date imprinted on the card for each student," Koch wrote.
The ID cards are used for a variety of purposes on campus, "including entry to a residence hall, eating in the dining hall and use of library materials," she wrote.
LHU began discussing the need for new student ID cards with expiration dates on them in July 2012, Koch wrote.
The controversial Pennsylvania voter ID law became law in March, and among other stipulations, requires that college students' IDs must have an expiration date that is current printed on them if students use those IDs to vote.
The state Supreme Court turned the case over Tuesday, Sept. 18 to the lower Commonwealth Court, and that judge is expected to announce by Oct. 2 whether or not voters will be disenfranchised and if voter IDs can be easily obtained.
"If the judge finds there will be no voter disenfranchisement and that IDs are easily obtained...the...law can stand, the Supreme Court said," according to the Associated Press.
State-issued ID must have a photo and an expiration date that is current.
Acceptable forms of voter ID are:
- Photo IDs issued by the U.S. Federal Government or the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (including the Department of State voter ID card)
- PA driver's license or non-driver's license photo ID (IDs are valid for voting purposes 12 months past expiration date)
- Valid U.S. passport
- U.S. military ID-active duty and retired military (a military or veteran's ID must designate an expiration date or designate that the expiration date is indefinite). Military dependents' ID must contain an expiration date
- Employee photo ID issued by Federal, PA, PA County or PA Municipal government
- Photo ID from an accredited PA public or private institution of higher learning, including colleges, universities, seminaries, community colleges and other 2-year colleges
- Photo ID issued by a PA care facility, including long-term care facilities, assisted living residences or personal care homes
(Source: www.portal.state.pa.us)
