Reality bites the ACLU

Lawyers stunned after lead plaintiff in voter ID case gets her ID anyway

Viviette Applewhite, 93, is the lead plaintiff in a Voter ID case against the state of Pennsylvania. But after a judge denied lawyers in the case a request for a temporary injunction of the law, Jessica Parks from the Philidelphia Inquirer decided to travel with Applewhite to the Pennsylvania DMV, as part of a report behind how difficult it would be for her to get the proper ID in order to vote.

According to the report, Applewhite doesn’t have the proper documents to get a photo ID.

Applewhite – who rode two SEPTA buses to get to the center – showed the clerk a Medicare card from the 1990s, its edges frayed from years of being pulled out of her pocketbook. It listed her Social Security number, but only the last seven digits were visible. A state Department of Public Welfare document showed her name, signature, and Social Security number – but all in her own handwriting. Other documents showed her street address in the city’s Germantown section. She had no documents verifying that the Viviette Virene Brooks listed on her birth certificate was the same person as the Viviette Applewhite applying for an ID.

In spite of her difficulties, Applewhite was issued her an ID anyway. According the report the DMV employees, did not recognize Applewhite, but agreed to issue her an ID as part of the department’s instruction to work with individuals on a “case-by-case basis.”

Applewhite’s lawyers had little to say, only that they were “delighted” that she finally obtained her ID.

“She has been trying to obtain PennDot ID for years and now she will be able to vote in November after all,” said Witold Walczak, legal director of the state ACLU.