The University of Pennsylvania student ID card will pass as a legitimate voter ID in the November elections, but students holding an ID card from other universities in Pennsylvania may be out of luck.
The state’s new voter ID law states that a valid ID must have an expiration date. IDs from Drexel, Pennsylvania State and Point Park universities and LaSalle College currently do not carry such a date.
According to the new law, other valid forms of identification include a driver license or the free photo ID issued by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. Out-of-state driver licenses will not be valid at Pennsylvania polls.
The American Civil Liberties Union, which is challenging the law, said there could be many more colleges in Pennsylvania facing this problem.
Joel Weidner, director of information systems for Penn State, said the school purposely removed the expiration dates from their student IDs in 2004. Expiration dates do not take into account students withdrawing from Penn State or the amount of time students are enrolled. An expiration date on a card is “not a trustworthy thing,” he said.
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