Commonwealth Court Judge Bernard L. McGinley issued a permanent injunction Friday that bars the enforcement of a law requiring Pennsylvania residents to produce photo identification in order to vote.
Prior to issuing his final decision on the case, McGinley and other Commonwealth Court judges entered several temporary injunctions against the law, blocking its enforcement while it was under review by the courts. As such, the law has not been in full effect for any Pennsylvania election since its passage in 2012.
The law was passed by Republicans in the Pennsylvania state legislature without any Democratic support and was designed to combat in-person voter fraud at the polls on Election Day. Republican Governor Tom Corbett signed the act into law in the run-up to the 2012 Presidential election.
Experts expect that Corbett will appeal the latest ruling.
The American Civil Liberties Union and other organizations filed a challenge against the law in Pennsylvania shortly after its passage in 2012 and have been fighting it ever since.
The law required Pennsylvanians to produce identification at the voting booth bearing their name, photograph and an expiration date. Valid IDs included PA drivers’ licenses and state ID cards, US passports, military IDs and a new voting ID to be issued by the Pennsylvania Department of State. PennCards would have been considered valid under the law, as they contained an expiration date, while IDs from 86 out of 114 Pennsylvania colleges surveyed would not have passed muster.
Related: Judge blocks voter ID law through general election
Voter-interest and civil rights groups across the state, including the ACLU, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the League of Women Voters categorically opposed the law, arguing that it would place an undue burden on minorities, the poor and the elderly who are less likely than most to possess traditional forms of identification.
Detractors of the law also argued that it did not do enough to make valid ID cards readily available to voters who don’t already have one. The new Pennsylvania State Department’s IDs would have been available at only 71 locations statewide and would have required voters to provide their social security card, proof of citizenship and two proofs of residence.
Others argued that the burdens the law placed on voters were excessive given that there is little evidence to suggest that in-person voter fraud is a widespread phenomenon.
ACLU-PA Legal Director Vic Walczak said in a statement that the plaintiffs were pleased the Court prevented the law from “disenfranchis[ing] hundreds of thousands of lawful voters.”
Other organizations who fought against the law echoed Walczak’s sentiments.
“Today’s decision means that the hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvania voters who lack limited forms of voter ID no longer have to worry about this restrictive law obstructing their right to vote,” President of the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania Susan J. Carty said in a press release.
John Jordan, director of civic engagement at the Pennsylvania NAACP, was very happy that the law was overturned. “The high courts finally got it right. [They’ve] given the people of Pennsylvania what they deserve,” he said Friday. “It’s a great victory to have on the eve of Dr. King’s birthday celebration.”
The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office did not respond to requests for an interview.
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