RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - A North Carolina trial judge refused on Thursday a Republican Party request that he block students and employees at the state’s flagship public university from being able to show a digital identification to comply with a largely new photo ID law.

Over 45,000 students and faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will be able to use their digital university ID to vote after a judge ruled that state law doesn't specify physical ID must be used.

Prepare for the general election with this voter guide full of information on candidates running this November.

State law does not prevent UNC-Chapel Hill students from using their university-issued mobile identification cards as voter ID, a Wake County judge ruled Thursday. State and national Republicans sued the state Board of Elections over its party-line approval of UNC-Chapel Hill’s mobileOne cards as acceptable identification for use at the polls.