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| STATE SUPREME COURT ALLOWS BLOCK ON NEW VOTER ID LAW TO STAND--FOR NOW |
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WPR News - State Supreme Court allows block on new voter ID law to stand--for now
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Monday April 16, 2012
by Shawn Johnson
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(SUPREME COURT) The state Supreme Court says it won't expedite the appeal of two cases that blocked Wisconsin's new voter ID law. It means the law remains shelved with Wisconsin's recall elections fast approaching.
Both lawsuits could eventually make their way to the Supreme Court. But the court's decision means they'll have to get there through the normal channels--trials, appeals and all.
The decision gave added significance to the trial just getting started Monday (4/16) in one of the lawsuits brought in Dane County by the NAACP. There, UW- Madison Political Scientist Ken Mayer took the stand as an expert witness, saying Wisconsin's voter ID law was tougher than almost any other states in the U.S., "Wisconsin law is, if not the strictest, is certainly among the one or two strictest."
Mayer said he found 20 election or voter registration fraud cases recently prosecuted by the state. Most were for felons voting--a crime he said voter ID would not deter. He also took issue with the justification often given for voter ID--that it will prevent someone from voting as someone else, "There is virtually no evidence at all that in-person voter impersonation at the polling places occurs with any frequency if it occurs at all."
The NAACP's trial continues all week. Another lawsuit by the League of Women Voters has also blocked the voter ID law. Both would have to be overturned by a higher court for the voter ID law to be reinstated.
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