Federal judge strikes down Wisconsin voter-ID law
A federal judge struck down Wisconsin’s voter-ID law Tuesday, saying it violated the Voting Rights Act and the Constitution.
The law had already been previously blocked by a state judge.
To be put back in place, supporters of the voter ID law would have to overturn both the state and federal decisions – a possibility that appears unlikely between now and the Nov. 4 election for governor.
In Tuesday’s decision, U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman in Milwaukee determined the law requiring voters to show one of a narrow set of photo IDs at the polls violated the federal Voting Rights Act and established an unconstitutional burden on the right to vote. He issued an injunction barring the law from being enforced. Not surprisingly, Wisconsin’s Attorney General, Republican J.B. Van Hollen, has already announced plans to appeal to the 7th Circuit Court.
The judge in this case, who is a Clinton nominee, based his ruling in part of the Voting Rights Act, but also on Section 2, which was not gutted as part of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last summer.
The ruling comes on efforts by Republicans that further restrict residents’ voting rights.
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