A federal appeals court has issued a stay of a ruling that would have allowed Wisconsin voters to provide an affidavit instead of photo ID. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit stayed District Court Judge Lynn Adelman’s ruling striking down portions of Wisconsin’s voter ID law.
“Because the district court has not attempted to distinguish genuine difficulties of the kind our opinion mentioned, or any other variety of substantial obstacle to voting, from any give voter’s unwillingness to make the effort that the Supreme Court has held that a state can require, there is a substantial likelihood that the injunction will be reversed on appeal,” the ruling says.
Adelman’s July 19th ruling in Frank v. Walker would have allowed residents without identification to vote in November, as long as they signed an affidavit stating why they are unable to get a photo ID. The state appealed that ruling earlier this month.
“We are pleased with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit’s decision to grant our motion for stay in Wisconsin’s voter ID case,” Attorney General Brad Schimel said in a statement. “I will continue to represent the State of Wisconsin and defend the rule of law until the case is resolved.”
“The decision by the Seventh Circuit panel guarantees the disenfranchisement of vulnerable Wisconsin citizens in November. We are evaluating our options to ensure that our clients and many others are not denied their voting rights,” said Dale Ho, Director of the American Civil Liberties Union Voting Rights Project