Minnesotans react to PA voter ID ruling

Supporters and opponents of Minnesota's voter ID constitutional amendment are reacting to today's court ruling in Pennsylvania.

A judge in Pennsylvania blocked that state's photo identification requirement from going into effect this year. Judge Robert Simpson said he was not convinced that every voter would be able to get a valid ID by Election Day.

In Minnesota, voter ID foes issued a news release that noted Pennsylvania's law is far less restrictive than what's proposed here.

"Minnesota has the highest voter turnout in the nation, but if this amendment passes it will become the most restrictive, more restrictive than the voter restriction system called into question by the judge in Pennsylvania," said Our Vote Our Future Campaign Manager Luchelle Stevens. "On Nov. 6, Minnesotans will block this poorly written and costly amendment just as Judge Simpson did this morning with the Pennsylvania law."

Stevens' counterpart, Dan McGrath of the pro-amendment campaign organization Protect My Vote, offered sympathy to the people of Pennsylvania.

"The will of the people, the will of the legislature has been thwarted by this one activist judge, who has really only accomplished delaying the implementation of voter ID there," McGrath said. "The people don't have the protection they expected for this coming election."

If Minnesota voters pass the voter ID constitutional amendment, McGrath said it will be protected from what he termed as "court meddling."

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