A federal judge in Cleveland temporarily blocked Ohio from requiring voters to show documentary proof of citizenship when registering at motor vehicle bureaus, ruling Tuesday that the requirement conflicts with federal law. [1]

U.S. District Judge Solomon Oliver Jr., a Bill Clinton appointee, found that Ohio's rule -- added to the state's "motor voter" law last year -- demands more than the "minimum amount of information necessary" the National Voter Registration Act allows. He also ruled Ohio has illegally limited its voter-registration offer at BMV counters to people who successfully obtain a license, rather than everyone who applies for one. [1][2]

The injunction suspends the documentation requirement ahead of Ohio's Oct. 5 registration deadline for the midterms. Secretary of State Frank LaRose, a Republican, said his office would appeal immediately. [1]

The lawsuit, filed by the Ohio Alliance for Retired Americans and Red Wine & Blue through the Elias Law Group, is one of several challenges to citizenship-documentation laws taking effect for the first time this year in South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming. [2] The ruling lands the same week a federal judge separately found the Trump administration had violated a court order on USPS mail-ballot rules, even as a different court cleared those rules to proceed -- a busy week for election litigation that most outlets are covering one ruling at a time.

Ohio's case now heads to appeal as Trump continues pushing Congress for a nationwide proof-of-citizenship mandate.

-- SAMUEL CRANE, Washington