The state will appeal the latest court ruling against Wisconsin’s voter ID law. Groups representing blacks and Hispanics in Milwaukee had argued the Republican written mandate created too great a burden for those without photo identification. Dane County Circuit Judge David Flanagan concurred, finding that the requirement impairs the right to vote for some 300,000 people – some of whom would have to purchase birth certificates to get the free ID’s the law provides for.
Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen said the U-S Supreme Court has upheld similar state ID mandates elsewhere, and he believes the Wisconsin law is also constitutional. Van Hollen has already asked an appeals court to overturn a ruling from another lawsuit which also claimed the ID requirement is unconstitutional. The appellate court decision in that case is not expected until after the November elections.
Since the ID mandate was passed, voters have had to use it only once – in local February primaries. It was not used in the April presidential primary, or the recalls in May and June.-
