GALVESTON (August 15, 2012)—U.S. District Judge Gregg Costa has denied the state of Texas a stay of his injunction that blocks enforcement of parts of the state's new voter registration laws.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott had asked Costa for the stay, but the Galveston judge rejected the request.

Earlier this month, Costa struck down five provisions of the voter registration law that the national non-partisan group Voting for America says make it harder to register people to vote.

The group complained that the new laws unconstitutionally restrict voter registration drives from gathering public voter information.

The new laws also limit who can hand out voter registration cards and who can collect the completed registration forms.

GOP lawmakers say the new rules are necessary to prevent voter registration fraud.