Expedited Appeal for Voter ID Denied

Two lawsuits that temporarily overturned Wisconsin’s voter ID law will not be immediately appealed to the State Supreme Court, making it less likely that the law will be on the books for the November election.

The court issued an order Thursday afternoon denying, at least for now, an expedited appeal of two circuit court decisions that ruled Wisconsin’s voter ID law unconstitutional. Marquette University Law Professor and former State Supreme Court Justice Janine Geske said she had not seen an order quite like this one before.

Geske says it would appear Justices wanted to let people know the status of those cases. “My guess is the reason they got the order out now, rather than doing something different, was that they were denying the request for injunction and signaling that the law is not going to be in effect during election time.”

The court order included a big caveat. Justices said they were denying the expedited appeal because all the briefs had yet to be filed in one of the lawsuits. Geske said Justices seemed to be leaving the door open for an appeal once those briefs are filed. “I’m always afraid to predict, but I would read it that it looks like they would probably grant it.”

The State Department of Justice had asked the court to take this appeal immediately so it could be decided before November. The Goverment Accountability Board, which runs Wisconsin’s elections, had urged against such a move, saying a ruling this close to November could create problems for poll workers and voters.