The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals declined a request by the American Civil Liberties Union Friday to rehear the controversial voter ID case the court decided earlier this month.
A three-judge panel reinstated the 2011 voter ID law before the Nov. 4 elections, a move the ACLU criticized because of allegedly limited access to such documentation, according to a release.
“Allowing this law to take effect so close to the midterm election is a recipe for chaos, voter confusion, and disenfranchisement,” Dale Ho, ACLU voting rights project director, said in the statement. “The court could have avoided this pandemonium and given Wisconsin voters a chance to cast their ballots free of obstruction.”
The ACLU requested a rehearing of the voter ID case before the full court on the grounds that it violates the Voting Rights Act. The 10 judges on the panel voted five-to-five on the rehearing request, failing to reach a majority and preventing the case from being reheard.
The ACLU argued implementation of the law is impossible given time constraints and examined the realistic possibility of manufacturing new IDs in time.
“By granting a stay on the eve of this year’s elections, with thousands of absentee ballots already in the mail, the panel decision forces a radical change in election procedures with no time for preparation, training, or outreach,” ACLU attorneys wrote in their request.
The federal court will bring forward evidence detailing the legal justification of their decision for upholding the ruling of the voter ID law and their respective voting choices in the coming weeks.
