"We are delighted," said Michael Churchill, a lawyer with the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia, who represented the plaintiffs. "It is tragic that so many were prevented from voting - or inconvenienced - and it took a lawsuit to fix the problem."
A coalition of civil rights groups sued in federal court in January, alleging that voters in the Lower Oxford East District, which includes Lincoln University, were prevented from voting because of inadequate facilities at the Lincoln Community Association Building poll location.
The polling place had been moved from Lincoln's campus in the 1990s, sparking controversy. Democrats called the move a partisan and racially tinged effort by Republicans to cut turnout among African American students who tended to vote Democratic. The Lower Oxford-East Republican Committee had asked that the site be relocated, citing safety concerns on Lincoln's 422-acre campus.
On Election Day in 2008, lines at the small community center were so long throughout the day that many waited for up to seven hours. Some stood in the rain and on nearby railroad tracks. Others left in frustration and didn't vote.
Five people sued: Wanda Havelow, Shanisha Smith, Aaron Lloyd, Darcel Jones, and Golden English.
Smith and Lloyd were Lincoln students.
English, 49, a county corrections officer, said he waited in line twice that day and finally gave up. In an interview Tuesday, he called missing the chance to vote for the nation's first black president a "frustrating experience that just wasn't right."
Several of his family members joined the line that evening and waited until after 10 p.m. to vote, English said. By then, Barack Obama was the projected winner.
About 131 million people - 63 percent of eligible voters - cast a ballot in that election. About 2,400 residents are registered to vote in the Lower Oxford East District.
