The state's GOP lawmakers want to amend the Pennsylvania Constitution to include a voter ID requirement — a process that requires victory on a statewide ballot measure.

Transcript

NOEL KING, HOST:

Pennsylvania's Republican lawmakers are fighting their state's governor, a Democrat, over proposals to tighten the state's voting laws, including one that would require voter ID. The governor, Tom Wolf, says he'll use his veto, but Republicans have a plan B that would cut Wolf out of this process entirely. Here's Katie Meyer of WHYY.

KATIE MEYER, BYLINE: It's late June in Pennsylvania's Capitol in Harrisburg, and lawmakers are scrambling to finish a budget before the fiscal year ends. But in the background, another big thing is also happening. Top Republicans in the Senate are setting in motion a constitutional amendment that would require voters to present government ID at the polls. The Democratic governor won't have any input.

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VINCE HUGHES: But this attempt - this veiled attempt to suppress the vote, which is part of a national strategy...

MEYER: That's Democratic Senator Vince Hughes opposing the amendment on the floor. The chamber is controlled by Republicans, and it passed on near party lines. Hughes has been in the Senate since 1994. He says he's seen a lot of procedural tricks in that time. But until recently, he hadn't seen a party use amendments to win political battles like this. Last month, voters approved two Republican-sponsored amendments that led to the end of Governor Wolf's coronavirus emergency orders.

HUGHES: It's clearly a pattern that has developed in the last year. And where does it stop? If you take it to this end, is it, well, we want to name some roads and bridges, and we're going to pass a (laughter) constitutional amendment to call the I-76 the so-and-so highway - Joe Schmoe's Highway?

MEYER: After the 2020 election, Pennsylvania Republicans held months of hearings about election security. They didn't turn up any evidence of widespread fraud. Despite that fact, Republican Senate Leader Jake Corman still won't say whether he thinks the vote was fair.

JAKE CORMAN: Whether the last election was - you know, we can argue that forever, and I'm not taking a side on that.

MEYER: He and other Republicans maintain voters don't trust the system. That lack of trust inspired a sweeping election bill that would require ID to vote and tighten voter registration and deadlines for absentee ballot applications. But Republicans don't control the governor's office. Like in a few other states, including Wisconsin and Michigan, Democratic governors like Tom Wolf have pledged to halt GOP-led voter restrictions. So that has Pennsylvania Republicans, like Corman, turning to an amendment to accomplish their biggest priority.

CORMAN: The governor - that's a veto no matter what. That's why we have a constitutional amendment to let the voters decide, and they will ultimately make the final decision on whether there should be voter ID in Pennsylvania.

MEYER: Statewide polls have shown most Pennsylvania voters favor some kind of ID requirement. Voters almost never strike down proposed amendments during referenda anyway. Constitutional amendments have to be passed in identical form in two consecutive two-year sessions, then sent to voters for a referendum. So it can't happen until at least 2023. A lot could change in that time.

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MEYER: Outside the Capitol, a group of activists are rallying for more education funding. One of them is Kari Holmes, a reverend from Allentown. She also cares deeply about voting. In her mind, it's all connected. And even though this latest amendment strategy is new, it doesn't feel that way to her.

KARI HOLMES: It's an old play in a very old playbook. We're talking about civil rights legislation that makes it so that people can have their voice and their vote counted. To then turn around and make it so that that can't happen - it makes it unquestionably obvious what you're doing.

MEYER: Republicans are still negotiating the voter ID amendment. It still has a ways to go in the legislature, and then it would be up to the voters.

For NPR News, I'm Katie Meyer in Harrisburg.

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