This is good news -- for now. The law remains on the books and the "get your ID" information campaign will continue, but voters will (we assume) be able to vote without a photo ID next month.
A Pennsylvania judge on Tuesday postponed the enforcement of the state's new strict voter ID requirement until after the November presidential election.
In a much-anticipated ruling, Commonwealth Court Judge Robert E. Simpson Jr. ordered that voters without government-issued photo ID should be allowed to cast regular ballots.
"That's a huge win," said Witold J. Walczak, an attorney with the ACLU of Pennsylvania, "because last week the judge was suggesting that he was going to have every [voter without ID] vote provisionally."
At the same time, the judge specifically ruled to allow the state to continue its education and advertising campaign, which currently tells voters that IDs are required.
Walczak said that if the state doesn't change that message, "we may be back in court."
"You can't be telling people you need ID if you're not actually requiring ID," he said. "That advertising has to be modified to reflect reality."
"Confusion is not a good thing on election day," he said. "Confusion is going to mean some voters stay home. Confusion is going to mean that some poll workers get it wrong."
Matthew Keeler, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania secretary of state, said the state is "pleased because the law itself hasn't changed. What's going on is there's a soft rollout for the general election, just like the primary."
Seriously, stage two needs to be an all-out effort to kill this law and all similar laws.