Republicans were just given a leg up over Democrats in this fall s presidential election in the battleground state of North Carolina, and they have a judge put in place by George W. Bush to thank for it.Federal judge Thomas D. Schroeder decided in favor of Republican legislators in court on Monday, letting a controversial voter ID law stay in place despite strong objections from civil rights groups.Research on Voter ID laws have shown that these laws are often a reliable way for Republican conservatives to cut down on voters that often vote for Democrats, especially minorities and young voters.The judge, Thomas D. Schroeder of Federal District Court in Winston-Salem, wrote near the end of his 485-page opinion that  North Carolina has provided legitimate state interests for its voter ID requirement and electoral system. North Carolina s voter identification law requires people to display one of six credentials, such as a driver s license or passport, before casting a ballot. Those who cannot may complete a  reasonable impediment declaration  and cast a provisional ballot.Schroeder was officially put in place on January 8, 2008, at the beginning of George W. Bush s last year in office.The North Carolina law also banned same-day registration, cut down on the amount of days available for early voting, and stops 16 and 17-year-olds from preregistering to vote.An expert testified at the trial that the law was designed in a way to put extra burden on black and Latino voters. Republican legislators and the state s GOP governor Pat McCrory deny the claim.In 2012, a Republican Pennsylvania State House leader bragged that that state s voter ID laws would  allow Governor Romney to win the state of Pennsylvania  (he didn t), while recently a Republican congressman from Wisconsin said voter ID would make the state   which has recently voted for Democrats   competitive in the fall for Republicans.President Obama won North Carolina in 2008 by 0.32% then lost it in 2012 by 2.04%. Polling in March showed the race in North Carolina effectively a toss-up between the Democratic and Republican presidential front runners.Featured image via Flickr