Federal court celebrates Voter Registration Day by suppressing vote in Illinoishttps://t.co/twyCmadYWd pic.twitter.com/C9TSEWaAoD

— ThinkProgress (@thinkprogress) September 27, 2016

On National Voter Registration Day, a U.S. District Court in Illinois granted a motion blocking the state’s same-day voter registration program.

The program has been offered by counties with populations greater than 100,000. Shortly after a pilot version of the program proved to be a success during the 2014 election, a bill making it a permanent feature of the state’s election law was signed by outgoing Gov. Pat Quinn (D). More than 110,000 voters registered on election day last March.

But, as ThinkProgress has previously reported, members of the Illinois Republican Party sued a couple months ago to block the program. They argue it gives unfair advantage to Democratic candidates who generally do well in high-population counties.

In a ruling issued Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge Samuel Der-Teghiayan granted the Republicans’ motion for a preliminary injunction shutting down the program for now.

“The application of this legislation favors the urban citizen and dilutes the vote of the rural citizen,” Der-Teghiayan writes. “The Supreme Court has made it clear that legislation cannot ‘restrict the political participation of some in order to enhance the relative influence of others.’”