HARRISBURG, Pa. (October 2, 2012)--A judge Tuesday put Pennsylvania's tough new voter identification requirement on hold and ordered that it not be enforced in the presidential election.

Tuesday's ruling came just five weeks before the election.

An appeal is possible.

The 6-month-old law requires each voter to show a valid photo ID.

Democrats and groups including the AARP and NAACP mounted a furious opposition to a law Republicans say is necessary to prevent election fraud.

Critics accused Republicans of using old-fashioned Jim Crow tactics to steal the White House and highlighted stories of registered voters struggling to get a state photo ID.

The law was already a partisan lightning rod when a top Republican lawmaker boasted that it would allow GOP nominee Mitt Romney to beat Democratic President Barack Obama in Pennsylvania.