This week’s Certification decisions by two separate districts of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals addressing challenges to Wisconsin’s Photo ID requirement does not change the current status of the law. Wisconsin’s Photo ID law remains enjoined for the April 3 elections. These two Certification decisions send all aspects of Attorney General Van Hollen’s appeals of two injunctions – issued by Judges David Flanagan and Richard Niess – to the Wisconsin Supreme Court for review. The Supreme Court has discretion to accept or reject these appeals.
The Milwaukee Branch of the NAACP and Voces de la Frontera are confident that our case presents powerful evidence of the unreasonable burdens imposed upon a large number of voters by the Photo ID law. Judge Flanagan found that Wisconsin’s Photo ID law is among the most inflexible and stringent law of its kind in the nation. He further found that over two hundred thousand voters are needlessly and unconstitutionally disenfranchised because they lack acceptable Photo ID.
The NAACP and Voces are fully prepared to defend the injunction issued by Judge Flanagan before any judicial tribunal, including the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Until a court directs us otherwise, we are preparing for a week long trial on April 16 before Judge Flanagan to present further evidence demonstrating the burdensome and irrational features of the Photo ID law. For a century and a half, Wisconsin courts have vigilantly defended all citizens’ right to vote as the bedrock of our democracy. We are hopeful and confident that our courts will protect the Wisconsin tradition of greater ballot access, full participation in elections, and an open political process.
