This item has been updated and corrected. A correction note has been appended at bottom.
“Voting laws are designed to assure a free and fair election; the Voter ID Law does not further this goal,” McGinley wrote as part of his 103-page ruling.
He added that the law “unreasonably burdens the right to vote” and poses “a substantial threat” to hundreds of thousands of eligible Pennsylvania voters.
Witold Walczak, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania and one of the lead attorneys in the case,
told the
Pittsburgh Post Gazette: “Once the Commonwealth admitted they couldn’t identify any of the fraud supposedly prevented by the voter ID law, the act was plainly revealed to be nothing more than a voter suppression tool.”
Indeed, let’s not forget that Pennsylvania state House Majority Leader Mike Turzai (R)
boasted in the summer of 2012 that the Republicans’ voter-ID law, ostensibly about the integrity of the electoral process, “is gonna allow Governor Romney to win the state of Pennsylvania.”
The Corbett administration will, of course, appeal today’s ruling.
Update: Here’s the
ruling (pdf).
Second Update: Rick Hasen
has more, describing the decision as “a clear victory for opponents of voter id laws.”
Correction: An earlier version of this post incorrectly attributed a quote to state Senate President Dominic Pileggi. In fact, it was said by state House Majority Leader Mike Turzai. We regret the error.
Correcting the correction: On Feb. 3, we also corrected Senator Pileggi’s title; he is the state Senate majority leader, not the state Senate president.
