The Senior Center in Easton is preparing senior citizens to vote in the November 2012 election. All voters are now required to show photo identification before voting at their polling place.

Act 18 of 2012 requires each voter to present proof of identification when they appear to vote, which goes into effect with the November election.

The photo identification must have a current expiration date, and be issued by the Federal Government or the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Acceptable forms of identification include a PA driver’s license or non-driver’s license photo identification, (the photo identification card is valid for 12 months past the expiration date), a valid U.S. passport or U.S. military identification.

Other acceptable forms of identification include an employee photo identification issued by the federal, state, county or municipal government, photo identification cards from an accredited PA institute of higher learning or a photo identification card issued by a state care facility. If you do not have identification, one can be obtained for free at a PennDOT Driver License Center.

“Why wasn’t this always in place,” asked Congressional candidate Laureen Cummings. “I will be ecstatic if this gets more people to the polls.”

Other elected officials were invited to join the seminar, but were unable to attend due to a meeting in Harrisburg.

No one legally entitled to vote will be denied the right to vote. If photo identification is forgotten, a provisional ballot is used to record the vote and the voter will have six days to present their valid photo identification to the county election board.

For voters who will be using an absentee ballot, a photo identification card will not be required but they must provide either a driver's license number, last four digits of their Social Security number or a copy of a valid photo identification card.

For more information on the new voter identification laws visit VotesPA.com.