As Pennsylvania’s strict voter ID law returns to the lower court for reconsideration, its original sponsor, Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (R-PA), told KDKA Radio Wednesday morning that his law will only disenfranchise “lazy” people, like the ones Mitt Romney was talking about in the leaked video of a private fundraiser.
When asked about the voter ID law’s disenfranchisement of the 750,000 Pennsylvanians who cannot get IDs, Metcalfe cited Romney’s offhand dismissal of the 47% of the country who will never “take personal responsibility and care for their lives” as proof that those people don’t deserve the right to vote:
HOST: Are you absolutely convinced…that the methods to implement this law are effective and will in fact make sure no legitimate voter will be disenfranchised?
METCALFE: I don’t believe any legitimate voter that actually wants to exercise that right and takes on the according responsiblity that goes with that right to secure their photo ID will be disenfranchised. As Mitt Romney said, 47% of the people that are living off the public dole, living off their neighbors’ hard work, and we have a lot of people out there that are too lazy to get up and get out there and get the ID they need. If individuals are too lazy, the state can’t fix that.
Listen:
Though Romney has claimed his remark was simply “inelegant,” the message seemed to hit home with Metcalfe. Metcalfe’s colleague, Rep. Mike Turzai (R-PA) admitted earlier this year that Pennsylvania’s voter ID law would “allow Governor Romney to win.” Meanwhile, Pennsylvania’s DMVs and Social Security offices have been overrun with so-called “lazy” people navigating a maze of bureaucracy in order to get the ID that will allow them to cast their vote.