The latest move in an ongoing legal dispute over voter ID in Wisconsin – state Attorney General Brad Schimel has requested a stay of last month’s sweeping decision by a U.S. District Court Judge.
Calling the state’s version of voter ID “a cure worse than the disease,” Judge James Peterson struck down limits on early voting and prohibitions on on where ballots can be cast in early voting. In seeking the stay, Schimel cited a pending appeal that he said will likely reverse the court’s decision.
The AG said not staying Peterson’s injunction would cause major disruption and voter confusion that would require changes to election procedures and informing the public of those changes, only to have the procedures change back.
“Governor Scott Walker has shown he will do whatever he can to rig our elections by denying legal voter access to ballot box based on their race or partisan affiliation, so this filing to keep these unconstitutional laws in place is not unexpected,” said Scot Ross of One Wisconsin Now.
OWN, along with Citizen Action of Wisconsin, brought the suit challenging provisions of the state’s 2011 voter ID law, targeting the photo ID requirement as well as the early voting provisions.