A judge in the election battleground state of Pennsylvania on Wednesday rejected an effort to block the state’s voter identification law, which civil rights groups argued discriminates against minority voters.
Pennsylvania, a major electoral prize in the November 6 presidential election between Democratic President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney, is one of 11 states to pass laws since 2010 requiring voters to show some form of legal identification. The laws have become a contentious issue ahead of the November 6 elections.
Both parties see turnout as key in battleground states like Pennsylvania, and Democrats fear voter ID laws disproportionately curtail balloting by lower-income and minority voters, who typically favor their party.
Civil and voting rights groups, including the NAACP and the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania, had sought a preliminary injunction to block the law, arguing it erects unfair hurdles for many legitimate Pennsylvania voters who lack an acceptable form of identification.
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He found that the civil rights groups failed to show that the law was unconstitutional under all circumstances since it applies to all qualified voters, requiring them to present a photo ID that can be obtained for free. Judges would also be stationed at polling places on Election Day to resolve individual disputes, he added.
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The Advancement Project, one of the groups behind the suit, said it would appeal Simpson’s decision to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
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The U.S. Justice Department is continuing to review whether the Pennsylvania voter ID law complies with federal voting rights laws, a department official said on Wednesday. The department said in July that it would analyze Pennsylvania data to determine if voters who lack proper ID under the new law are disproportionately black or Hispanic.
Matt Barreto, a political science professor at the University of Washington who testified in the case for the ACLU, found that around 14 percent of voters in Pennsylvania do not possess the necessary ID. Latinos, people without a high school degree and the elderly are all significantly less likely to possess a valid ID, he found in a survey conducted for the ACLU.
AP: Pa. voter ID law gets approval of state judge
The decision will quickly be appealed to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. That court is currently operating with only six members, because one of its justices is suspended. A tie vote would uphold Simpson’s ruling.
Although their decisions do not always follow partisan lines, the six elected justices are equally divided between Democrats and Republicans.
if either dominant party ever fielded a candidate worth voting for.
As it is, big friggin’ deal.
We have to work around, not by means of, elections. Our political system resists repair, so we need to reboot. Elections are utterly irrelevant to doing that, except to the degree that they can make the current order break down more quickly.
Romney: ‘We’re going to win Pennsylvania’
NBC, By Garrett Haake, September 28
Wayne, PA — Mitt Romney returned to Pennsylvania today for the first time since July, holding a high-dollar fundraiser in Downtown Philadelphia and a rally here at the Valley Forge Military Academy; predicting at both he could mount an improbable victory in this politically divided state.
“You know, I’ve got a little secret here,” Romney told a rally crowd of a few hundred supporters. “That is that the Obama campaign thinks Pennsylvania is in their pocket — they don’t need to worry about it. And you’re right, and they’re wrong.
“We’re going to win Pennsylvania. We are going to take the White House.”
At the fundraiser earlier this morning in Philadelphia, Romney was more circumspect about his chances, telling donors it would “really shock people” if, on Nov. 6th, Pennsylvania seemed to be going his way. He first predicted “it could happen” before closing with an outright prediction: “I’m going to win Pennsylvania.”
Romney’s campaign has not run any television advertisements in the Keystone state, and the candidate himself has not appeared here since mid-summer. No Republican has carried Pennsylvania since George H. W. Bush in 1988.
Nate Silver puts the chance of an Obama win of Pennsylvania at 96.7% at this writing.