Gov. Scott Walker signed the voter I.D. bill into law Wednesday, May 25, which requires voters to present a valid form of Wisconsin identification issued by the Department of Transportation before being given ballots.
Assembly Bill 7, commonly known as the voter I.D. bill, was introduced in February and aims to counteract voter fraud in Wisconsin's polling places.
However, the bill has caused uproar among protesters, who argue the bill does more to suppress voters than it does to counteract voter fraud.
During the debate in the Senate the Friday before the bill was signed, state Sen. Spencer Coggs, D-Milwaukee, said the bill ""[holds] hostage"" the 3.8 million people who voted fairly because of the 11 reports of voter fraud among felons in the last election.
In response to student protests, the Committee on Campaign and Election Reform had voted to allow student identification cards to be accepted as valid I.D. at polling places, provided the student I.D.s had same components as a state-issued I.D., a signature and date of birth. However, no student I.D. from any school in Wisconsin currently contains this information.
Walker applauded the passage of the bill calling it a ""common sense reform"" that would ""go a long way to protecting the integrity of elections in Wisconsin.""
It still remains unclear how the bill will affect voter turnout.
