Pennsylvania’s new voter ID law has been the topic of many debates in recent months. Proponents claim it will help reform the election and curb voter fraud. Opponents say it is a way of excluding people from voting, many of these being poor, elderly, disabled, and minorities. This edition of That’s History examines the history of voter reform in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and how that shaped the current voting process. Suggested reading:

• Suffrage in Pennsylvania (November 2008) issue of Legacies
• Documents relating to the Committee of Seventy
• League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania Records

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