Monday, October 1, 2012

A judge's decision on Pennsylvania's tough new law requiring voters to show photo identification could swing election momentum with Republican candidates trailing in polls on the state's top-of-the-ticket races.

Commonwealth Court Judge Robert Simpson is under a state Supreme Court order to decide no later than Tuesday.

The law's opposed furiously by Democrats, but it's been a valuable Democratic Party tool to motivate volunteers and campaign contributions as other critics hold protest rallies and voter education drives.

The high court wants Simpson to stop it if he believes it'll prevent any registered voter from casting a ballot. Simpson has suggested he might strike a narrow part of the law to allow someone to cast a provisional ballot without having to show or get a photo ID.