A federal judge appointed by former President Clinton has temporarily halted an Ohio law that mandates voting registrants to present photo identification proving their citizenship before enrollment. The decision was made on Tuesday by Judge Solomon Oliver Jr., who noted a potential conflict with federal guidelines.

“The court grants plaintiff’s motion for preliminary injunction … from relying on House Bill 54’s amendment to require any driver’s license or renewal to produce documentary proof of citizenship before offering the opportunity to register to vote,” Oliver stated in his ruling.

This ruling marks another chapter in the ongoing national debate about state-level voting laws designed to prevent non-citizens from casting ballots in U.S. elections, and how far these laws can extend without federal intervention.

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose reacted by announcing plans to challenge the decision. “We strongly disagree with that decision, and I’ve asked our legal team to file an immediate appeal. I will vigorously defend our legal authority to safeguard our voter rolls and protect the integrity of Ohio’s elections,” LaRose remarked.

The case, Red Wine & Blue v. the Ohio Secretary of State, involved evaluating whether the new Ohio law conflicted with the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), also known as the “Motor Voter Act.” Passed in 1993, this act, established under the Clinton administration, allows voter registration using the information needed for a driver’s license application to boost participation.

As per the NVRA, “the voter registration application portion … for a driver’s license may not require any information that duplicates information required in the driver’s license portion of the form.” Although this act doesn’t explicitly prevent states from demanding citizenship proof, Oliver argues that further documentation constitutes repetition, given that driver’s license forms already inquire about citizenship status.

Judge Oliver elaborated on his perspective in his Tuesday ruling. “As the rest of Ohio’s voter registration scheme demonstrates, election officials do not need documentary proof of citizenship to assess a voter registration applicant’s citizenship because signed attestation of citizenship is enough,” he wrote.

Secretary of State LaRose disagreed with this viewpoint by emphasizing the existence of voter fraud cases that have gone undetected due to current enforcement methods.

He cited a case from earlier this year involving an Ohio woman who later admitted to voting illegally as a permanent resident in 2018. According to LaRose, a Bureau of Motor Vehicles clerk had misguided her into voting. “The Franklin County case proves it’s not enough to just have a person’s attestation,” LaRose concluded. “Ohio has a constitutional requirement to ensure that only U.S. citizens are voting in our elections.”

Reporter Leo Briceno covers politics for the Fox News Digital congressional team. Previously, he worked with World Magazine.