Thread: WISCONSIN - Republicans re-introduce voter ID bill

FOX11
By SCOTT BAUER Associated Press

Republicans re-introduce voter ID bill
Opponents fear it would disenfranchise voters

MADISON (AP) - Wisconsin would join 27 other state in requiring that identification be shown before voters can register to vote or cast ballots under a bill circulated for co-sponsorship by Republicans on Friday.

Republican leaders promised to push the voter ID bill after they won back majority control of the Legislature following the November mid-term elections. Newly elected Republican Gov. Scott Walker has indicated he supports the requirement, but his office had no immediate comment on the bill being circulated.

Republicans passed the voter ID requirement three times when Democrat Jim Doyle was governor, only to have it vetoed each time.

This year, there's nothing Democrats can do to stop them.

The bill proposed by Rep. Jeff Stone, R-Greenfield, and Sen. Joe Leibham, R-Sheboygan, would go farther than in most states by requiring that the ID to be shown at the polls include a photo of the voter. That stricter requirement is only required currently in nine other states, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Eighteen states require the ID only, not necessarily one with a photo.

Wisconsin Republicans have pushed for it as a way to combat voter fraud. But Democrats counter there is no evidence of widespread fraud and all the requirement would do is make it harder for people to vote.

"Voter ID is the Republicans' attempt to rig elections in their favor by disenfranchising minorities, students and seniors citizens," said Scot Ross, director of the liberal advocacy group One Wisconsin Now. He argued that in order for the law to be found constitutional, the state would have to spend millions of dollars to add additional Department of Motor Vehicle registration centers to ensure there was adequate access.

The bill, which was obtained by The Associated Press on Friday, requires anyone who is voting or registering to vote at the polls on election day to show a valid ID. Accepted IDs would be a driver's license, a military identification card or a state identification card or certificate issued by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.

Voters who couldn't present a valid ID could vote provisionally, which means their ballot would be put aside until they could produce the ID later.

Another proposal being circulated by Republicans would do away with same-day voter registration, something Walker has also indicated he supports.

The state Government Accountability Board, which overseas elections in Wisconsin, issued a statement without taking a position.

"Photo ID is a policy issue for the Legislature and governor," the board statement said. "The Government Accountability Board stands ready to assist them in developing the details of that policy, and with implementation."

Bill sponsors said the measure was modeled after a 2005 Indiana law that Democrats in that state challenged all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court and lost. Lawmakers have only until Tuesday to sign on as co-sponsors of the bill, an indication it is being put on a fast track.

Source: http://www.fox11online.com/dpp/news/wis ... ation-bill[/b]

One Wisconsin Now:
http://www.onewisconsinnow.org/