In a win for voting rights groups Tuesday, a federal judge in Gainesville barred the Florida from enforcing a two-year-old law requiring election supervisors to verify a would-be voter's identity by using a driver's license or the last four digits of a Social Security number.

Secretary of State Kurt Browning said he would appeal the preliminary injunction."This law is perfectly consistent with the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) and in my view the Legislature appropriately enacted this important anti-fraud provision as part of Florida’s Election Code.”

The plaintiffs -- including the Florida State Conference of the NAACP, the Haitian-American Grassroots Coalition, and Southwest Voter Registration Education Project --  said the law disproportionately disqualifies minorities. Among the reasons: the use of two surnames by many Hispanic and Haitian voters cause confusion and mismatches in voter databases.

Representing the plaintiffs was the Advancement Project, a Washington-based, civil rights group, and New York University's Brennan Center for Justice.