Penn State to Alter Student ID Cards to Accommodate New Voter Law

UNIVERSITY PARK – Penn State plans to alter its student identification (ID) cards to accommodate the newly enacted Pennsylvania Voter law that will require voters to show an acceptable photo ID with an expiration date to vote at the polls starting with the November 2012 general election. Currently, Penn State student ID cards do not have an expiration date.

Beginning with summer orientation, all new student ID cards issued will include a printed expiration date that is five years from the date of issue. During the 2012 fall semester, current students who have not yet been issued an ID card with an expiration date, and possess no other acceptable form of ID that can be used for voting, will be issued an expiration sticker that can be affixed to Penn State’s id+ Card, making it valid for voting under the new law. There will be no charge for the stickers. Details on how the stickers will be issued are currently being defined. Over the next three years as ID cards are replaced for new students, the stickers will be phased out.

“We, of course, want to help students fulfill their voting privileges. Using a sticker as an interim solution for students who need to use their id+ card for voting is a cost efficient and effective way to handle the need that will arise for the November election,” said Joel Weidner, director of information systems for Auxiliary & Business Services. “This is a stop-gap measure until students receive a new ID card (with an expiration date) as part of the normal cycle of issuing and replacing IDs.”

For information and details on the new Pennsylvania Voter ID law, including the requirements for valid forms of ID,visit http://www.votespa.com/portal/server.pt/community/preparing_for_election_day/13517/voter_id_law/1115447 

 

Joel Weidner, Penn State University

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