HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania (Reuters)
- A judge on Tuesday blocked Pennsylvania from requiring voters to show photo
identification in November's U.S. election, a decision that could influence
turnout in a top electoral prize in the presidential race.
In a setback
for Republican state officials
who championed thecontroversial
law and
had hoped it would help them deliver Pennsylvania for their party's
presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, Commonwealth Court Judge Robert Simpson delayed
its implementation until after Election Day, November 6.
Simpson,
however, did signal the law, which requires people seeking to vote to show
either a state driver's license, government employee ID or a state non-driver
ID card, could be implemented for future elections. The judge, ordered by the
state's highest court to revisit his earlier ruling upholding the law, set a
hearing for December 13 to further discuss the case.
The ruling
comes exactly five weeks before the presidential election pitting challenger
Romney against President Barack Obama, the
Democratic nominee whom polls show has a sizable lead in the state. The closely
watched case is also one of several challenges to recent laws around the
country requiring voters to show proof of who they are and their eligibility to
vote.
Simpson, who
heard frustrated voters testify about the slow, mistake-prone process of obtaining
the cards, said he had expected a greater number of identification cards to
have been issued by now.
"For
this reason, I accept (the) argument that in the remaining five weeks before
the general election, the gap between the photo IDs issued and the estimated
need will not be closed," the judge said in an 18-page ruling.
"This
is a victory for the petitioners and people who will be able to vote on
Election Day," said Marian Schneider, one of the attorneys for the voting
rights and civil rights groups challenging the law.
Pennsylvania
House Majority Leader Mike Turzai, a
Republican who helped push the law through the Pennsylvania legislature this
spring without a single Democratic vote, said he was pleased the law was upheld
for future elections.
At a
fundraiser in June, Turzai had touted it as a key achievement that would help
the Romney camp this November, saying: "Voter ID, which is going to allow Governor Romney to win the state of Pennsylvania -
done."
Governor
Tom Corbett, also a Republican and backer of the law, said
he had no plans to appeal the decision handed down on Tuesday.
NO VOTER
FRAUD SHOWN
Corbett and
other supporters say the law is aimed at ensuring only those legally eligible
to vote cast ballots. Critics say it is designed to keep minority voters, who
typically vote Democratic, away from the polls.
The state of
Pennsylvania has acknowledged it has never seen a case of in-person voter
fraud, according to court testimony.
The high
court had instructed Simpson to determine whether the Corbett administration
was doing enough to ensure voters had "liberal access" to the picture
ID cards needed to vote in November.
Groups such
as the American Civil Liberties Union, League of Women Voters, Latino Justice,
and SeniorLAW Center have argued the requirements make it impractical or nearly
impossible for senior citizens, minorities and the poor to get the IDs.
On Tuesday,
a three-hour wait at a voter ID issuing center in Philadelphia was endured by a
crowd of 200 people, mostly African American.
"I believe
in voting. It's my right," said Geneva Workman, 76, a retired housekeeper
who decided to stay in line despite the ruling that would allow her vote
without an ID in November.
Lois
Sallard, 48, an unemployed family shelter worker waiting to renew her expired
ID, said she was determined to vote in this election. "I want the best man
in office to help with this country, to make this world a better place."
Simpson's
ruling followed testimony from a dozen people who recalled the hurdles they had
to overcome to get IDs, including long waits, multiple trips and
misinformation. One of the witnesses, who included a person who walked with a
cane and another in a wheelchair who called her experience maddening, saying
she nearly gave up after several days' quest for the card.
OTHER
CHALLENGES UNDERWAY
Pennsylvania
is one of the top prizes in the election, bringing the winner 20 votes in the
Electoral College, tying it with Illinois for fifth in the ranks of electors by
state. Only California, Texas, New York and Florida bring more.
To win the
White House, either Obama or Romney must capture at least 270 of the Electoral
College's 538 available votes. A CNN poll released last week showed Obama with
a 9 percentage point margin over Romney among likely voters in the state,
leading 49 percent to 40 percent.
A raft of
recently enacted voter ID laws are being challenged, and several have suffered
setbacks in court this year.
Earlier this
year, two judges in Wisconsin found that state's voter ID law violated the
state's constitution, and last week the Wisconsin Supreme Court denied a
fast-track appeal. Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen conceded the law
was unlikely to go into effect before the election.
In August, a
federal three-judge panel blocked a Texas law requiring voters to show
identification. The U.S. Department of Justice had opposed the law, arguing it
violated the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which outlaws voting procedures that
discriminate against minorities.
The
Department of Justice is also contesting South Carolina's voter ID law in
federal court. Last week, a lawyer for South Carolina argued the law would not
have a discriminatory effect and urged a panel of judges to let the law go into
effect. But he did not insist a ruling come in time for the November 6
election.
(Additional
reporting by Dave Warner in Philadelphia; Writing by Barbara Goldberg and Dan
Burns; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Jackie Frank)
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