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.

A Wake County Superior Court judge denied the North Carolina Republican Party's request to block use of the UNC Mobile One Card as a form of voter ID.

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.