Pa. Voter ID Sent Back to Lower Court

Pennsylvania's Supreme Court today sent a challenge to the state's new Voter ID law back to a lower court with instructions for that judge to reconsider issuing an injunction.

It's not yet clear how the court decision will affect or possibly block implementation of the law for the Nov. 6 general election, according to a Philly.com report.

The decision gave Commonwealth Court Judge Robert Simpson -- a former Northampton County judge and a Nazareth resident -- until Oct. 2 to file a new opinion on the case. Simpson upheld the law last month.

The Supreme Court instructed Simpson "to consider whether the procedures being used for deployment" of ID cards comports with the law as written -- which, in testimony before the Supreme Court, appeared not to be the case, according to a Huffington Post report.

If those procedures are not being followed, or if the judge was "not still convinced...that there will be no voter disenfranchisement arising out of the Commonwealth’s implementation of a voter identification requirement for purposes of the upcoming election" then he would be "obliged to enter a preliminary injunction," the higher court wrote.

Two Democratic justices dissented, saying the high court should have issued an injunction itself. The four judges who supported the ruling include three Republicans and one Democrat.

Free photo IDs for voting are available at PennDOT driver's license centers.

The court challenge to the new Voter ID law has been described as a case of contradictions.