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Voter ID Law Tested

Tuesday’s primary is being used as a test run for the state’s new voter ID law. The law will take effect in time for the November elections and requ...

Tuesday's primary is being used as a test run for the state's new voter ID law.

The law will take effect in time for the November elections and requires voters to show a photo identification.

Election workers are supposed to ask for your photo identification for a dry run for when it's mandatory in the November general election.

At a polling place in Taylor when Newswatch 16 was there, some were asked, some were not.

John Harrison's ID was checked, and he didn't mind. "I don't think it's bad. I don't think it's unreasonable. It only took a second to show id," Harrison said.

There are those who disagree.

John Holland is a teachers' union official.

"We want to encourage people to vote, not discourage people or make it more difficult," Holland said.

He feels the law was pushed through by Republicans because it is meant to keep young people, minorities and the elderly away from the polls, groups that Holland said vote Democratic.

As for the mechanics of the process, a judge of elections said it's no big deal.

"Most everybody that's voting all have ID because they are the most civic minded people that are voting," said elections judge Mike Swartz.

He added Lackawanna County is helping workers, and voters, by providing everything they need to know in writing.

At the polling place inside the Keyser Valley Community Center in Scranton, they weren't asking for ID, but still a lot of voters were showing up with drivers licenses in hand.

None of the voters who were asked saw the new law as a big deal.

There are some cases where you must show identification, if you've changed your polling place, changed your party, or if this is your first time voting.

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