The Dane County Board of Supervisors voted 32-2 in favor of a resolution for UW-Madison to modify their student ID cards to have a two year expiration date to comply with voter ID criteria.
Currently, students at UW-Madison cannot use their Wiscards for voting purposes. While in-state students can use their government issued driver’s licenses, out-of-state students do not have a readily available ID to take to the polls, as out-of-state driver’s licenses and other IDs are not valid voter IDs in the state of Wisconsin.
While the university has been offering separate, free voter ID cards since 2012, a majority of the board expressed there must be an easier solution. Twenty-eight board members sponsored the resolution and had a number of public speakers imploring the supervisors to pass the resolution.
Angelito Tenorio, chair of the University Affairs Committee, spoke on the importance of civic engagement.
“Not having voter ID is not helping … young people get involved in the political process,” Tenorio said.
Discussion among the supervisors showed some dissent against the final ruling. Supervisor Michael Willett cited the fact that most in-state students have a driver’s license and the free voter ID offered by the university negated the reason for creating a new combination Wiscard and voter ID.
Many Wisconsin colleges, including Edgewood College and Madison College, have altered their student IDs to function as voter IDs in response to the new law.
“It might not be the best solution, but a better solution than [what we currently] have on campus,” County Clerk Scott McDonell said.
