Wisconsin’s Attorney General is not giving up on efforts to reinstate the state’s voter ID law before the November elections.
The state Supreme Court last Thursday rejected a request to stay injunctions preventing the photo I-D requirement from being enforced. However, Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen says the court did recognize the importance of the case and he believes justice could be asked to reconsider the issue after a briefing deadline in mid-October.
The requirement for voters to show a government-issued photo ID at the polls has been on hold for much of the past year. Dane County judges issued injunctions in two separate lawsuits, after finding the law unconstitutional. Both cases are currently awaiting action in an appeals court, but Van Hollen had asked the Supreme Court to combine them and stay the injunctions.
Van Hollen remains confident rulings that the law is unconstitutional will overturned, although he has not determined yet if they will make another push before the election in November. He says “it’s certainly a possibility. We have to look into the timing of everything.”
If the Supreme Court were to stay the injunctions, Wisconsin voters would be required to show a photo ID at the polls on November 6th. While state election officials have warned that could cause chaos at the polls, Van Hollen doubts it would result in problems. He says much of the groundwork was already done before the one election the requirement was in effect for last February, and he believes the rule could be put back in place quickly.
AUDIO: Andrew Beckett reports (1:02)