Testimony continues in Pa. voter ID challenge

The elections director of Allegheny County says his office is bracing for long lines due to the voter ID law going into full effect in the general election Nov. 6.

Turnout is already high in general elections, says Mark Wolosik — as much as 70 percent.

And numbers from the state show as many as 100-thousand people in Allegheny County won’t have photo ID needed to vote this fall.

He testified Friday in Commonwealth Court for the plaintiffs suing the state to overturn the voter ID law.

Even based on the most conservative estimates, Wolosik says as many as 35,000 people might have to cast provisional ballots because they’ll be without ID at the polls.

Wolosik, who said verifying and tallying those ballots will be an involved and lengthy process, says poll workers are not absolutely required to undergo training that would inform them of how to check people’s photo IDs.

But during cross-examination by a commonwealth attorney, Wolosik confirmed it’s likely that most election judges will go to training.

Department of State employee Shannon Royer testified that all poll workers will receive information in the mail on the new photo identification requirement at the polls.

He says the state expects those workers on the front lines during elections will also receive training from the counties.