This election, the issue of voter disenfranchisement was front and center in several key states across the country. One of the most-controversial moves in the case of voter suppression and the potential robbery of democracy occurred in the battleground state of Ohio.

Republican Secretary Of State Jon Husted’s decision to change the rules just days before the election was “a flagrant violation of a state elections law,” wrote U.S. District Judge Algenon Marbley on Tuesday.

On November 2, Husted issued a directive to local election officials to reject certain provisional ballots from voters who didn’t follow explicit instructions of identification on the ballot application.

Judge Marbley ruled that Husted violated a state law that instructs poll workers to fill out the ballot application; the directive would have put the onus on the voter to fill out the form. Husted also violated a federal court agreement that would protect provisional ballots from rejection due to poll worker error.