On the plaintiffs' side Elizabeth Westfall argued that the database could contain errors.
"Someone could be using their married name, but their Social Security number might be entered under their maiden name," she said.
And oftentimes Hispanics have two last names, while blacks may use "nontraditional names or spellings"; in both cases this information may not appear correctly in the database and ultimately prevent eligible voters from registering.
Several groups, including the Florida Conference of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and Haitian-American Grassroots Coalition, sided with the plaintiffs and agreed that 14,000 people were unable to register because their numbers did not match.
With these reasons in mind, the judge decided Florida's law, which was created to prevent electoral fraud, has caused harm to voters.
"This disenfranchisement, however unintentional, causes damage to the election system that cannot be repaired after the election has passed," he said.
However, Florida Secretary of State Kurt Browning plans on appealing, claiming the law does comply with "federal ones."
"I also think it is unwise to introduce such a major change in Florida's election procedure on the eve of Florida's presidential preference primary," he said.
One alternative to using Social Security numbers and driver's license numbers to verify voters' information is using bank statements, utility bills, and other government documents instead. And in Washington, state officials have allowed those with unmatched information to register but required them to provide more information before their ballots were counted.
