A federal judge has put limits on election-day voter registration in Illinois.
The law in question allowed people in the most-populated parts of the state to register at their polling place, while the county seat was the only option for rural voters.
Jacob Huebert, with the conservative Liberty Justice Center which sued over the law, said it wasn’t fair.
“That’s giving an opportunity — an important opportunity — to people in high-population counties that it doesn’t give to people in low-population counties,” he said.
Judge Samuel Der-Yeghiayan wrote that, while it was desirable to open up the voting process, such a law must apply equally to all citizens of Illinois.
But Ed Yohnka, with the ACLU of Illinois, says the ruling could disenfranchise many people this fall.
“With just a little over a month to go,” he said, “before one of the major and hotly contested elections of our time, you have essentially the rules being changed about how people vote."
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office has told the court it intends to appeal the ruling
