The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously Tuesday that a lower court should consider whether certain demographics of voters who face more difficulty getting photo IDs are unduly punished by Wisconsin’s voter ID law.
The ruling keeps the law in place but could open the door for those who cannot get voter IDs to find other ways to vote. For now, those without a photo ID cannot cast their ballots in Wisconsin.
Civil liberties groups have clamored for exceptions for eligible voters who meet certain conditions, including those who are unable to obtain acceptable photo ID because of name mismatches or other errors in relevant documents. Those conditions also include voters who need credentials from other agencies that will not issue the ID unless Wisconsin's Department of Motor Vehicles first issues a photo ID, as well as eligible voters who need a document they have lost, such as a birth certificate. In these three cases, getting a photo ID would be significantly more difficult.
Although there has been opposition to the voter ID law in previous years, Appeals Court Judge Frank Easterbrook wrote in the opinion that "the argument plaintiffs now present is different." The approach "is potentially sound if even a single person eligible to vote is unable to get acceptable photo ID with reasonable effort."
The ruling also notes that a person's right to vote is "not defeated" by the fact that others can secure their photo IDs more easily.
The case now returns to federal court in Milwaukee for further review.
A spokesperson from the state Department of Justice said he is confident the state has set aside adequate resources to help those groups and that they will prevail.
"Given the overwhelming success of the [Department of Transportation] program, and the fact that our state's recent primary elections involved record turnouts, we are confident that we will prevail on the narrow issues that the court remanded on," spokesperson Johnny Koremenos said in a statement.
