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Circuit Judge David Flanagan placed a temporary injunction on the implementation of Wisconsin's strict voter ID with a hearing set for April 16 to determine if the injunction should be made permanent. The decision is likely to be appealed.
The good news for Wisconsin voters is that this means the law certainly won't be effect in time for April 3 primary elections. More than 200,000 Wisconsin voters do not have an ID that complies with the law and in what many are calling a poll tax, there are financial barriers that prevent many from easily complying with the law.
Flanagan said the state’s new voter ID law required people who lacked government photo ID to spend money to acquire the necessary documents — such as birth certificates. He called that “a real cost that is imposed on constitutionally eligible voters,” adding that was especially “burdensome” for the elderly and disabled.
He said the ID requirement fell disproportionately on elderly people, people of color and poor people, and said claims that the voting process needed to be policed to prevent voter impersonation — or fraudulent voting — were overblown and “extremely unlikely.”
Governor Scott Walker (R) was an enthusiastic supporter of the law and faces direct consequences if the bill is not in effect during his upcoming recall election. Voters disenfranchised by this law are more likely to be from demographic groups that tend to vote Democratically and are likely to vote to recall Walker.
