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Voter fraud and disenfranchisement has been a staple of American politics since there were, well, American politics. Who and when people could vote have been used as a means to bolster support for one candidate and suppress the numbers of voters for one's opponent. Shenanigans such as claiming that INS agents would be at polling places, written exams would be administered prior to being allowed to vote or closing polling places at times which many people in a particular community routinely vote, are just some of the tactics used to suppress the black and Latino vote.

There have been reports that due to recent Voter ID sanctions, up to 10 million Latino voters could be prevented from voting across the US in this year's election. The Advancement Project, which released a report Monday on the potential disenfranchisement of Latino voters nationwide, is one of several groups challenging the voter-ID law in state courts. The report found that 23 states have legal barriers that "disproportionately impact voter participation" of Latino citizens.

In the latest of these actions, over 50,000 Pennsylvania Latino citizens, all eligible voters, could be stopped from voting on Election Day if the state's new voter-ID law isn't blocked, a Washington-based civil-rights organization said Monday.

Penda Hair, The Advancement Project's co-director, said that PennDOT staff have not been adequately trained to process voter IDs.

"You don't have to pay $13 or have a birth certificate to get acceptable ID," she said, "but many PennDOT staff don't understand this."

Miguel Concepcion, chairman of the Philadelphia chapter of the National Congress of Puerto Rican Rights, said: "Whether or not you get voter ID depends on what [PennDOT] office you visit and what day of the week you go."

"If someone is coming in and actually depicting themselves with proper forms, PennDOT staff have been trained on what to do to issue a voter-ID card," said Nick Winkler, a spokesman with the Department of State.

Last week, the state Supreme Court vacated a decision in August by Commonwealth Court Judge Robert E. Simpson Jr. upholding the law and directed him to decide by Oct. 2 whether the state is doing enough to get voter IDs into the hands of voters who need them by Nov. 6. If not, he should block the law, the high court ruled.

Judge Simpson will hear testimony on Tuesday in the state capital from voters represented by the Advancement Project.

As we get closer to Election Day in this country, the Republicans will continue to try and suppress the votes of those people who are not like them. This is reason alone to not only make sure you are ready, willing and able to vote, but make voting for you and everyone in your household, neighborhood and community vote early and help others do the same.

If someone will lie to get your vote or stop you from voting, then what do you think they will do when in office---continue to lie and cheat.