I’m sure they could use your help! I was excited about this for about 2 seconds until I remembered that Prosser is still on the Supreme Court . . . but I think it is important they do this. Find out more and who it will impact. This isn’t news, but consider giving them a donation.
League of Women Voters to Challenge Wisconsin Voter ID Law
The League of Women Voters of Wisconsin Education Fund is preparing to challenge Wisconsin’s new Voter ID law based on the state constitution. As a nonpartisan organization that encourages participation in government, the League is concerned about the many eligible citizens who will be disenfranchised by the new law. The League is working with Attorney Lester Pines of Cullen Weston Pines & Bach to challenge the legislature’s authority to enact the law.
This challenge is different from lawsuits brought in other states against voter ID laws because it is based on the Wisconsin state constitution. The suffrage or voting portion of the state constitution defines who may vote (citizens, 18+ years of age, residents of WI) and specifies the permitted subjects relating to suffrage on which laws may be enacted: laws defining residency; providing for voter registration; providing for absentee voting; excluding felons and persons adjudicated incompetent from suffrage; and extending the right of suffrage to additional persons.The state constitution specifically limits the classes of citizens who may be excluded to the two named classes – felons and people ruled incompetent. The lawsuit would challenge the Legislature’s authority to enact this law which creates a third class of citizens who may not vote – those who do not have ID. The lawsuit will also argue that the legislature could have the power to require ID if (and only if) it is structured it in such a way that it does not disqualify voters, e.g. by allowing a voter without ID to sign an affidavit attesting to their identity.
You can be part of the challenge! You’ll find more information at http://www.lwvwi.org/; our staff and board will be happy to sit down with you to discuss this issue in detail.Please contact Andrea Kaminski, Executive Director, at (608) 256-0827 or kaminski@lwvwi.org to request an appointment or additional information. Sign up to receive updates on the LWVWI website or by emailing lwvwisconsin@lwvwi.org.
The clerk’s office sent out information the other day about who will be impacted by the voter ID law, the numbers are kinda staggering . . .
According to the Brennan Center of the New York University Law School, the following groups do not have a Wisconsin driver’s license or identification card:
· 23% of persons aged 65 and older
· 17% of white men and women
· 55% of all African American males
· 49% of African American women
· 46% of Latino men
· 59% of Latina women
· 78% of African American males age 18-24
· 66% of African American women age 18-24
Remember, if you have groups that want to learn more, you can also contact the clerk’s office.
Voter ID information sessions will be held throughout Madison in September, October, November, and December. Thirty-two sessions have been scheduled so far. To schedule a presentation for your group, contact the Clerk’s Office at clerk@cityofmadison.com or 608-266-4601.
Did the voter suppression law make any changes to how groups like the League can register voters? I worked in 2008 as a special registration deputy after getting training and certification from the Madison city clerk’s office. Voter registration is critical. Does the League have any plans to conduct registration drives in the future?
The law prohibits the GAB from deputizing voter registrars, an ability it had prior to this. Now, only the voting authority may deputize voter registrars, I believe. I think this will have a significant effect on voter registration drives, especially in rural counties, since there are so many different districts involved. Imagine having to be deputized by each town, village, or other municipality in order to register voters for those municipalities, when their various voting boards meet once a month. This seems quite difficult to me. Perhaps LWV can clarify if they see this as an issue.