By State Representative, Leon D. Young
Leon D. Young
Wisconsin’s highly contentious voter ID requirement appears to be a fact of life in some form or fashion. But, there appears to be a bit of good news, at least, for the November presidential election.
Just last week, U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman in Milwaukee issued a decision that creates a pathway for voters with difficulties getting IDs who have been unable to cast ballots under the state’s 2011 voter ID law.
Adelman wrote in his 44-page decision: “Although most voters in Wisconsin either possess qualifying ID or can easily obtain one, a safety net is needed for those voters who cannot obtain qualifying ID with reasonable effort.” This is indeed encouraging news.
The ruling will allow voters to use affidavits instead of IDs to vote in the November 8 presidential election. But this new affidavit system will not be in place for the August 9 primary for congressional and state legislative races because Judge Adelman determined election officials needed more time to implement it. Controversy and judicial review of the voter ID law is nothing new.
In 2014, the very same judge (Adelman) ruled that the voter ID law was unconstitutional, but that decision was subsequently overturned on appeal. However, the case has stayed alive – granted on narrower grounds – as the two sides have argued over whether there should be a way for some voters to cast ballots even if they don’t have IDs.
Those who don’t have IDs will be able to vote by going to polling places and signing forms saying they can’t easily get IDs. The [affidavit] system is to be available to anyone who, to get an ID, “would have to do more than retrieve a birth certificate and related documents from his or her desk drawer and make a single trip to the Division of Motor Vehicles.”
This court decision could provide the first big test for Wisconsin’s newly created state Elections Commission, composed of three Democrats and three Republicans. (Republican lawmakers recently created the commission to replace the state Government Accountability Board, a group of six former judges that has been responsible for running elections for the last eight years.)
A separate lawsuit in federal court in Madison is seeking to show that Republicans adopted voter ID and other laws over the past five years with the goal of benefiting their party and making it harder for minorities to vote.
The lawsuit also challenges limits on early voting, a requirement that voters establish residency 28 days before voting, the elimination of straight ticket voting and other changes to voting rules approved since 2011. Denying or making it more difficult for individuals to cast their ballots isn’t patriotic – the voter ID requirement is blatantly un-American. Moreover, it speaks directly to the lengths the GOP will go to win elections and seize political power.