Pennsylvania voters claiming to have been disenfranchised by a new voter identification law testified Thursday before the judge tasked with deciding if the state has met the law's promise of free and easy access to acceptable picture IDs.

Lawyers hoping to persuade Commonwealth Court Judge Robert Simpson to stop the law from taking effect brought voters to court to testify about hurdles they say they've encountered in trying to get a valid ID. The judge has until Tuesday to rule.

Republicans, long suspicious of ballot-box stuffing in the Democratic bastion of Philadelphia, maintain that the law will deter election fraud. But Democrats point to a blank trail of evidence of such fraud, and charge that Republicans are trying to steal the White House by making it harder for the elderly, disabled, minorities, the poor and college students to vote.

The new law requires each voter to show a particular form of photo ID, such as a driver's license, passport, active duty military identification, nursing home ID or college student ID. The prior law required identification only for people voting in a polling place for the first time and it allowed non-photo documents such as utility bills or bank statements.