Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett won't appeal ruling striking down voter ID law

Feb. 4, 2014: Republican Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett speaks in Harrisburg, Pa. (AP)

HARRISBURG, Pa. – Gov. Tom Corbett says he won't appeal a state court ruling that struck down Pennsylvania's voter identification law.

Corbett released a statement Thursday defending the law but saying it needed changes and he hoped to work with the Legislature on them.

The law was one of the strictest in the nation, requiring nearly all voters to show certain forms of photo identification at the polls.

It was never enforced, having been put on hold during the legal challenge that resulted in a Commonwealth Court judge declaring it unconstitutional in January.

The Republican-controlled Legislature approved the law in March 2012, saying it would prevent voter fraud. Democrats unanimously opposed it.

The state's lawyers, defending the law, acknowledged they could not produce any example of in-person voter fraud.