October 2, 2012 by David K. Sutton

Judge Orders A Halt To Pennsylvania Voter ID Enforcement Before Election

Commonwealth Court Judge Robert Simpson ruled Tuesday that Pennsylvania cannot enforce it’s voter ID law before the election. The ruling can be appealed to the state Supreme Court but that appears to be unlikely since it was the highest court in PA that sent the law back to the lower court with instructions to do what it has now done. This is a big win for voting rights in Pennsylvania and the country. However, the law still exists and could be enforced at a later date. So there is still work to be done.

Does this mean as a resident of Pennsylvania I will no longer see this offensive voter ID commercial?

If you care about this country, it’s time to show it.

I will show it. We will show it. — We will all show it when we go to the polls this November 6th. And we will show it because we are not enforcing a voter suppression effort in the state of Pennsylvania. Sorry Mike Turzai.

UPDATE (1:30pm):

Now with more details available it appears this ruling, while still favorable to voting rights advocates, is not without a few caveats according to Talking Points Memo:

A Pennsylvania judge on Tuesday issued a ruling on the state’s voting law that will allow poll workers to ask for photo identification but will still allow voters to cast a ballot without subsequently having to show an ID.

The ruling strikes down two provisions of the law that would have required voters to without identification to show their IDs within six days of voting or appear before the county board of elections. The state will also still be allowed to educate voters about the new identification requirement. – Pennsylvania Judge Rules Poll Workers Can Still Ask For ID — TPM

I have a Pennsylvania drivers license, but I feel like we should all register a verbal complaint if asked for an ID on November 6th. It’s not that I think asking for identification before voting is wrong, it’s the way these voter suppression laws have been enacted that is the problem.

Oh, and given the wording of this ruling, if you live in PA you will probably still see the above commercial on TV.