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Pa. judge tosses law requiring voter ID

Rules it imposes an undue burden

HARRISBURG, Pa. — A Pennsylvania judge struck down on Friday a requirement that nearly all of the state’s 8.2 million voters show photo identification at the polls, saying it imposes an unreasonable burden on the right to vote and officials failed to demonstrate the need for it.

‘‘Voting laws are designed to assure a free and fair election; the Voter ID Law does not further this goal,’’ Commonwealth Court Judge Bernard L. McGinley wrote in a decision that set the stage for a possible appeal before the state’s highest court.

McGinley, a Democrat, said the law is unconstitutional, because it does not require that a valid photo ID be convenient and available to voters. ‘‘As a constitutional prerequisite, any voter ID law must contain a mechanism for ensuring liberal access to compliant photo IDs so that the requirement . . . does not disenfranchise valid voters,’’ McGinley wrote.

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Governor Tom Corbett declined to comment, saying he had not reviewed the 103-page ruling.

His lawyer, James Schultz, said they could seek a review by the full Commonwealth Court or appeal directly to the state Supreme Court.

The law, one of the strictest in the nation, was approved by the Republican-controlled Legislature and signed by the Republican governor in March 2012 over the protests of every Democratic lawmaker.

Representative Daryl D. Metcalfe, a Butler County Republican who sponsored the original bill, called the decision ‘‘an activist ruling by a partisan Democrat judge.’’

The fact that the law may impose a burden on voters who need an ID ‘‘doesn’t give you a reason to [disregard] the voice of the people’’ as expressed by the Legislature, he said.