An appeals court ruled Thursday that Wisconsin’s voter ID law would remained blocked during the state’s upcoming recall elections, according to the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel. “The Wisconsin Supreme Court’s decision to decline our certification means, as a practical matter, that there will be no definitive court ruling before the May 8 and June 5 recall elections,” the District 4 Court of Appeals said. “Given that the briefing period in this appeal has just begun, there is no realistic possibility that this court will issue an opinion before the June 5 election.”
Wisconsin’s voter ID law was passed by the Republican-led state legislature last year and requires voters to present a state-issued photo ID when they cast ballots in federal, state and local elections. Other photo IDs, such as college ID cards and veteran ID cards, cannot be used.
The law was blocked last month by two separate state appeals courts, who ruled the law was unconstitutional because it abridged the right to vote.
The Wisconsin Department of Justice appealed both decisions. But the state Supreme Court refused to take up the cases, which were consequentially sent back to the appeals courts.
“Once again, Wisconsin has been given a temporary reprieve from the efforts by Scott Walker and his Tea Party extremists to keep eligible voters from being able to exercise their franchise,” Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Mike Tate said in response to the ruling.
