Photo ID rule for Election Day in Pa. is blocked

By Marc Levy

Associated Press

Published: Wednesday, Oct. 3 2012 12:40 a.m. MDT

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FILE - In this Sept. 26, 2012 file photo People pass the signs telling of the requirement for voters to show an acceptable photo ID to vote as they head into the the Penndot Drivers License Center in Butler, Pa. Some political momentum could be on the line in a judge’s forthcoming ruling on Pennsylvania's tough new voter identification law. Commonwealth Court Judge Robert Simpson is expected to rule Tuesday. That’s just five weeks before voters decide whether to re-elect President Barack Obama, a Democrat, or replace him with Mitt Romney, a Republican.

Keith Srakocic, File, Associated Press

Summary

A judge has ruled that Pennsylvania voters won't have to show photo identification to cast ballots on Election Day, a move that could help President Barack Obama in a presidential battleground state.

HARRISBURG, Pa. — A judge has ruled that Pennsylvania voters won't have to show photo identification to cast ballots on Election Day, a move that could help President Barack Obama in a presidential battleground state.

Tuesday's ruling comes just five weeks before the election. An appeal is possible. The 6-month-old law requires each voter to show a valid photo ID.

Democrats and groups including the AARP and NAACP mounted a furious opposition to a law Republicans say is necessary to prevent election fraud. Critics have accused Republicans of using old-fashioned Jim Crow tactics to steal the White House and have highlighted stories of registered voters struggling to get a state photo ID.

A top Republican lawmaker had boasted the law would allow GOP nominee Mitt Romney to beat Democratic President Obama in Pennsylvania.

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