Pennsylvania judge denies challenge to state's voter ID law

(Reuters) - 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 had argued discriminates against minority voters.

Pennsylvania, a major electoral prize in the November 6 presidential election between President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney, is one of 11 states to pass voter identification laws since 2010. The laws have become a contentious issue ahead of the November 6 elections.

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 to voting for many legitimate Pennsylvania voters who lack an acceptable form of identification.

Supporters, which include the Republican-dominated legislature and Republican Governor Tom Corbett, argued the law is necessary to prevent fraud and to keep non-citizens from voting.

"Petitioner's counsel did an excellent job of 'putting a face' to those burdened by the voter ID requirement," Pennsylvania Commonwealth Judge Robert Simpson said in a 70-page ruling.

"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," Simpson wrote. "Rather, I must analyze the law, and apply it to evidence of facial unconstitutionality brought forth in the courtroom, tested by our adversarial system."

"For the foregoing reasons, I am constrained to deny the application for preliminary injunction," Simpson concluded.

Simpson's ruling sets up a likely appeal by the plaintiffs.

(Reporting By Dan Burns; Editing by Vicki Allen)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pennsylvania-judge-denies-challenge-states-voter-id-law-141100233.html

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