Judge Upholds Voter ID Law

Pennsylvania’s new voter identification law will stand … for now.

Commonwealth Court Judge Robert Simpson released his decision Wednesday that parties challenging the Voter ID law were not able to prove it will cause “immediate and irreparable harm” to the electorate.

The challenge to the law was brought by voter advocacy groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union and the NAACP.

It’s unclear what this decision will actually mean, since both sides had vowed to appeal the judgment if it didn’t go their way.

Pennsylvania passed a law in March requiring all registered voters to show a . This is one of the strictest voter ID laws in the nation. That means every voter in and  will need valid photo ID when they arrive at the polls.

Opponents of the law say it disproportionately targets the elderly as well as the poor and minorities, who typically vote Democrat. Furthermore, .

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However, Judge Simpson decided that the state has surpassed its requirements to offer photo identification to those who need it and granted voters the ability to cast provisional ballots and prove their identity within six days. He also noted that some of those who testified for the plaintiffs would likely need to use absentee ballots to vote.

“(The plaintiffs) did an excellent job of ‘putting a face’ to those burdened by the voter ID requirement,” Simpson wrote in his decision. “At the end of the day, however, I do not have the luxury of deciding this issue based on my sympathy for the witnesses or my esteem for counsel.”

“The court had a chance to intercede the PA legislators’ attempt to suppress the vote on Election Day,” said Benjamin Todd Jealous, President and Chief Executive Officer of the NAACP. “However, with today’s decision and the estimated amount of Pennsylvanians who lack the required photo ID, we will witness a marked decrease in voter turnout and in the number of ballots that will be counted on and after Election Day.”

Republican Party of Pennsylvania Chairman Rob Gleason issued a statement in support of today's ruling. 

“Today is an important day for voters in the state of Pennsylvania as the Commonwealth Court’s ruling protects the integrity of our electoral process at every level – city, state and federal," he said. “The fear-mongering that has played out in recent weeks has been unconscionable and with this ruling, the will of the people is upheld.  As evidenced by the Washington Post polling, Americans are overwhelmingly in favor of this law. Truly, it is time to move forward."

Thirty states have some sort of Voter ID law, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, and of those, 19 do not require a photo, six require a photo and five, including Pennsylvania, have strict photo requirements.

In June, Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald joined county Controller Chelsa Wagner in challenging the law. Wagner, a Democrat, has endorsed efforts in the courts to keep the law from taking effect before the election and her office filed an amicus brief in the challenge to the law.

Controversy over the law flared in June when state Democrats criticized a comment from State House Majority Leader Mike Turzai, R-Bradford Woods, about the newly enacted law.

Turzai's comment, , was among several items he said had been accomplished on the Republican agenda. On the video, he says: "Voter ID, which is going to allow Governor [Mitt] Romney to win the state of Pennsylvania, done."

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