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Pennsylvania's voter ID law will be back in state court Monday after more than a year of legal limbo. A state judge will decide whether the 2012 law — which hasn't been enforced — violates the state's constitution.

The measure requires voters to show a particular state-issued photo ID before casting ballots. Last week, civil rights advocates like the NAACP's John Jordan railed against the requirement.

"It's a ploy to take votes away from people who deserve them — veterans, seniors, students, people with disabilities, people of color and hard-working folk," Jordan said.

It's the same disagreement that has caused conservative lawmakers and voting rights activists to lock picket signs at state capitols across the country. Supporters say photo ID is a common-sense requirement that
keeps people from impersonating someone else and casting a fraudulent ballot.

Opponents say it's an attempt to disenfranchise minorities and Democratic-leaning groups, who are less likely to have photo identification.

A legal challenge to Pennsylvania's law was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union with 93-year-old Viviette Applewhite as the lead plaintiff. She's a longtime voter, born in Philadelphia, who wouldn't be able to get the ID she would need under new rules because she doesn't have a birth certificate or other key identifying documents, such as a non-driving license.

"I think it's just terrible," Applewhite says in an ACLU video, "because there's so many people that don't have ID and they're not going to be able to vote. I think that's taking their privilege away from them and I don't think it's right."

In court, lawyers for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania have acknowledged they couldn't point to any instance of voter fraud.

The trial could give the law some sticking power or deliver a death blow. The judge must rule on the constitutionality of voter ID under state law and his ruling is expected to be appealed to the state's Supreme Court.

Pennsylvania officials have worked to defuse the issue. Last summer, just before the first court hearing on the law, state officials created a new special voting ID card that would be easier for some to obtain than a driver's license.

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What Would A 2013 Voting Rights Act (Section 4) Look Like?