CLEVELAND -- A federal court judge ruled this morning that the OHio statue allowing partisan challengers at polling locations is unconstitutional, NewsChannel5 reported.

The judge was asked to stop more than 3,000 Republicans who are planning to monitor polling places and challenge voters.

U.S. District Judge Susan Dlott found that the presence of challengers inexperienced in the electoral process would impede voting.

Meanwhile, a lawyer for the Ohio Republican Party said the GOP will appeal the ruling. Attorney Mark Weaver said the party plans to file an appeal with the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati within the next few hours.

Dlott ruled on a lawsuit by a black Cincinnati couple who said Republican plans to deploy challengers to largely black precincts in Hamilton County was meant to intimidate and block black voters.

Two civil rights activists asked Dlott to issue an emergency restraining order barring partisan challengers from polling stations in all 88 Ohio counties.

The attorneys said the Republican challengers intend to intimidate newly registered black voters.

Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell issued a statement saying those challengers could disrupt the voting. Ohio law allows people to challenge a voter to prove they are eligible.

Ohio's Assistant Attorney General Rick Coglianese argued that the law is not aimed at black voters and does not violate their civil rights.

Dlott worked through the night drafting her decision.

She is the same judge who stopped boards of elections statewide from conducting Republican Party-initiated voter eligibility hearings.