Voter-ID case to continue into summer

Posted: January 23, 2013

The fate of Pennsylvania's controversial voter ID law will not be decided until at least midsummer.

A judge on Tuesday scheduled a trial to begin July 15 on whether the law, which requires all voters to present photo identification at the polls, is valid. The trial is expected to last a week, and Commonwealth Court Judge Robert E. Simpson Jr. has said he wants to rule by August. Simpson has also said he expected the case to again be appealed to the state Supreme Court.

In the interim, the judge said, he will decide by March 21 how to handle this year's May 21 primary and whether he should extend a partial injunction on the voter-ID law through that election. Just weeks before last fall's presidential vote, Simpson blocked the law from taking effect, but made clear that his injunction was temporary. - Angela Couloumbis

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