A concerned Carbon County citizen is asking for the commissioners' help with the voter ID process.

During the monthly meeting of the county election board, Roy Christman of Lehighton, approached the board, asking if they could send a letter to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation that asks the license centers to expedite the process in obtaining an identification card for voting purposes.He addressed a letter he sent to the board on July 7 about his experience when he drove a friend who doesn't drive to the driver's license center to obtain an ID card for the upcoming November election.The letter, which will appear in its entirety in Saturday's edition of the TIMES NEWS in the Letters to The Editor, states that "758,000 Pennsylvanians lack ID required to vote. On Friday, July 6, I took one of those 758,000 to get his ID. It did not go well."Christman said that he and his friend Paul arrived at the center at 1:15 p.m. and took a number, which was 20. After two hours, they were called up to the desk only to learn that the forms of identification Paul brought with him his Palmerton library card, two utility bills in his name, and his original birth document from the Palmerton Hospital were "not good enough" due to the fact that the birth certificate was not a state-issued certificate.Christman and Paul then went to state Rep. Doyle Heffley's office to order a state-issued certificate, only to find out they do not take cash like the driver's license center. Christman then had to run a money order to Heffley's office for Paul on Monday.Paul must now wait a few weeks until his birth certificate arrives to again try to obtain a photo ID from the driver's license center for voting purposes, as required by the new law.In the letter, Christman continues "My friend Paul has voted for years. He is not a criminal. He is not pulling a fast one. All he wants to do is vote. I am willing to put in another day of driving him to the DMV, but I can tell you this, anyone who says this is free or this is easy has not undergone this procedure."Christman pointed out that there are misleading facts on the phone system of the driver's license center, which are all automated, including the cost for the photo ID.Lisa Dart, director of the county elections office, said her office has been fielding a number of these calls because the automated system for the centers states that the ID is $13.50, when in fact, if it is for voting purposes, it is free."They're not asking what you want it for," she said. "They're just charging the $13.50. They're not coming forward and saying if this is for voting ID purposes then it is free. The person has to ask them."Christman responded that he feels this new law is like an "unfunded mandate.""They're making county registrars and PennDOT do these things and they didn't provide the resources to do them."Commissioner William O'Gurek said he called the center's phone number to hear the system for himself."It's discouraging to hear that," he said, adding that he applauded Christman for trying to help his friend obtain an ID card."Did you know there are 2,286 (residents) in Carbon County that would like the same ride?" he said, adding that overall in Pennsylvania there are 758,000 residents who are "unverified" and without proper photo ID for the upcoming election."In Carbon County, it's almost 2,300 people and that concerns me and I'm sure the other two commissioners as well."O'Gurek said that two cases currently in the courts one in Allegheny County and one in Philadelphia will determine if the photo IDs will be required for the upcoming election."Time is of the essence. How do you get 700,000 people to the PennDOT center when it takes three hours to go there and find out you can't get a card?" O'Gurek asked.Commissioner Wayne Nothstein, chairman, said that these issues have been around for years, but have only been complicated since the new law requiring photo ID to vote was put in place.He suggested that Christman forward his letter to the Department of State, Secretary of Transportation and Gov. Tom Corbett.Commissioner Thomas J. Gerhard applauded Christman for helping his friend."To stand there for two hours and go through all that nonsense, to me it's ridiculous," he said. "I have the paper that says go to the PennDOT driver's license center, take your social security card and two proofs of residency. It's very simple but they make it complicated. We don't want to discourage anyone from voting."O'Gurek added that this whole situation is "troubling."Dart added that the counties have been working with the state to try and figure out what to do, but the state keeps changing the answers.The board will now write a letter to the state pointing out the difficulties that Carbon County residents are facing in obtaining a photo ID card for the election."I hope they listen," O'Gurek said.