Iowa Judge Karen Romano [official bio] of the Polk County District Court [judicial website] granted a temporary injunction [text, PDF] blocking portions of Iowa’s new voter identification law relating to absentee ballots. Romano filed the injunction Tuesday, which was made public Wednesday.

The injunction halts the parts of House File 516 [legislation], which change the amount of time to cast an absentee ballot from 40 to 29 days and require a voter identification number on absentee ballots. The portion of the law requiring a county auditor to verify the voter’s signature on the ballot is on hold. The law also requires a government issued ID for in-person voting, which is not affected by the injunction. However, government materials about the voter ID law must make clear that the ID is not required until 2019.

Romano wrote, “The court finds, under the Iowa Constitution, it is well settled that voting is a fundamental right. Thus, any law imposing restrictions on exercising this fundamental right or state actions affecting this fundamental right, must be subject to strict scrutiny.” She later wrote, “The law has evolved over the last century but the constraints put on the right to vote absentee by the challenged provisions of HF 516 are a clear burden on the longstanding fundamental right to vote.”

The injunction was sought [JURIST report] by the Iowa chapter of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) [advocacy website] and an Iowa State University student in June. The president of LULAC, Joe Enriquez Henry, said in a press release, “This is just a first step, but we welcome it because it means every Iowan will continue to have his or her right to vote.”

Voting regulations have become a much litigated issue in the US. Last month a federal judge overturned [JURIST report] a proof of citizenship requirement for Kansas voters. That same month Missouri was sued [JURIST report] over its voter ID law.