Republican judge blocks rights groups' suit over Pennsylvania voter ID law

In Pennsylvania, a Commonwealth Court judge has rejected a suit brought by the ACLU, the NAACP and others to block the state's stringent new voter ID law, according to the Philadelphia Enquirer's website Philly.com. Judge Robert E. Simpson, elected to the bench as a Republican in 2001, rejected the plaintiffs' request for an injunction against the law, which would potentially disenfranchise 758,000 poor and minority voters.

Republicans claim that the law is necessary to prevent voter fraud. Simpson's 70-page ruling is expected to be forthcoming. Philly.com quotes the judge as writing, "After hearing and after consideration of the oral and written arguments of counsel, it is ordered and decreed as follows: Petitioners' Application for Preliminary Injunction is denied."

Attorneys representing the plaintiffs are expected to appeal the ruling. A Justice Department investigation into voter disenfranchisement in the state of Pennsylvania is ongoing. Federal investigations have revealed one instance of in-person vote fraud in the U.S. in the last 143 years(.pdf).