Voter ID Victory in Wisconsin

Noel Johnson, an attorney at the Public Interest Legal Foundation, recently wrote a piece outlining the numerous failures of the ACLU and other anti-voter ID parties in Wisconsin. Beginning with the 7th Circuit's determination that Wisconsin's voter ID law violates neither the constitution nor the Federal Voting Rights Act, voter ID opponents in Wisconsin have continued to "strike out."

The most recent blow came as Judge Adelman, a Clinton appointee and the judge who originally invalidated Wisconsin's voter ID law, refused to expand the law on remand from the 7th Circuit. The ACLU brought in a number of witnesses and attempted to argue that Wisconsin's refusal to allow the use of some student IDs, VA veteran ID cards, and various other forms of ID violated the equal protection clause.

Judge Adelman ruled that to expand the law would create the unreasonable burden of "requir[ing] the state to update the existing voter ID law every time a new ID is found to be an acceptable form." A few of the ACLU's witnesses argued that certain IDs in their possession should be deemed acceptable for voting despite the fact that they were already in possession of U.S. passports which satisfy the law's requirements. As a result of the ACLU's weak arguments, Judge Adelman ruled that the plaintiffs had failed to convince him that there was a large number of people who did not possess qualifying IDs and could not obtain one.

In spite of their loss, the ACLU claims that they will try again. However given their record, it doesn't appear voter ID proponents in Wisconsin have much cause for concern.


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