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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Wisconsin Can Enforce Voter ID Law

CHICAGO (CN) - Wisconsin can enforce its new voter ID law in the November elections, though the law's fate is still uncertain, the 7th Circuit ruled late Friday, hours after its hearing on the case.

After the Wisconsin Supreme Court upheld the law in June 2013, U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman struck it down for constitutional and Voting Rights Act violations that disproportionately affect minorities and the poor. The 7th Circuit said it lifted Adelman's permanent injunction late Friday based on the state Supreme Court's revision of the law, which "revised the procedures to make it easier for persons who have difficulty affording any fees to obtain the birth certificates or other documentation needed under the law, or to have the need for documentation waived."

The three-judge panel - Judges Frank Easterbrook, Diane Sykes and John Tinder - found that the change "reduces the likelihood of irreparable injury," "changes the balance of equities" and increases the state's chance of victory on the merits. Such a victory seems likely. Although final judgment is pending, the two-page order calls the law "materially identical to Indiana's photo ID statute, which the Supreme Court held valid."

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