Updated October 2, 2012, 11:40 a.m. ET

Pennsylvania Judge Blocks Voter ID Law

By KRIS MAHER

A Pennsylvania judge on Tuesday blocked the state's controversial voter-identification law from taking effect in time for the November election.

Commonwealth Court Judge Robert Simpson said he thought the measure, which would have required voters to show a photo ID at polls, could have kept some people from voting, as opponents of the law had argued.

"I'm still not convinced in my predictive judgment that there will be no voter disenfranchisement," Judge Simpson wrote.

Earlier this month, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ordered Judge Simpson to block the law unless he determined there would be no voter disenfranchisement and that new state voter IDs are easy to obtain.

Judge Simpson previously rejected claims that the law would prevent some people from voting, and he refused to block the law when it first came before him in August. The law could still take effect at a later date or face a renewed challenge by opponents to block it completely.
The law has stirred controversy since it was passed in March, over objections by state Democrats, and then signed by Republican Gov. Tom Corbett. Estimates of the number of registered voters in the state lacking an acceptable photo ID ranged from tens of thousands to more than a million. As the challenge to the law moved through the state courts, the legal focus shifted from a broad argument over whether the law was constitutional to whether its implementation would prevent any registered voters from casting a ballot this fall.

Pennsylvania Republicans have said the law was intended to prevent voter fraud, while Democrats have said they believe the law would have disproportionately affected poor urban voters and others more likely to vote for President Barack Obama and other Democrats.

Pennsylvania estimated earlier this year that 89,000 voters, or about 1%, might lack an acceptable ID.

Groups including the American Civil Liberties Union asked the courts to block the law from taking effect this year. They said some voters wouldn't be able to get the necessary ID in time to vote. The groups wrote in a brief this month that one voter made two 80-minute round trips to a driver's license center last week but couldn't get an ID because she lives with someone else and has no proof of residency.
The groups also said that since Pennsylvania issued roughly 10,000 voter IDs between March and September, it was unlikely the state would be able to process all the new IDs that would be needed by the election.

Lawyers for the Pennsylvania attorney general have said voter IDs are readily available, and the state eased some requirements for obtaining one this month.

Nils Frederiksen, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania attorney general's office, which defended the law in court, said the ruling is under review.

A spokesman with the Pennsylvania Department of State, which oversees elections, didn't immediately comment on the ruling.

Opponents of the law welcomed the decision. "This is a big win in that you can still vote without ID in November, but we're still studying the decision," said David Gersch, a Washington lawyer who represented the plaintiffs in the case.

Some liberal advocacy groups said they would continue to oppose the law. "The issue is only over for this election," said Maya Wiley, president of the Center for Social Inclusion. She said she thought the law "still permits barriers to the ballot."

Pennsylvania's law is among the strictest of 31 voter-ID measures in place around the U.S. In other cases, states have mailed the necessary IDs to all voters or have said people can sign affidavits at the polls attesting to their identities if they forget to bring IDs.

Pennsylvania Judge Blocks Voter-ID Law - WSJ.com