With only a month to go before the presidential election, Wisconsin’s Voter ID law is back before the courts. U.S. District Judge James Peterson has ordered the state to show by Friday that it can quickly meet the needs of people seeking photo identification, so they can vote.
He was reacting to reports that a few DMV workers gave potential voters inaccurate information. If the state doesn’t address Peterson’s concerns, he could put Wisconsin’s Voter ID law on hold.
Voter interest groups accompanied a few people to DMV locations, while they applied for a state ID. The groups say they recorded the conversations.
In some of them, staff reportedly told people that temporary voting credentials were not available and that getting an ID without a birth certificate could take weeks.
News of the recordings led federal Judge Peterson to order the state to prove that it is complying with his ruling from this summer. In July, he struck down a slew of laws related to voter ID. For instance, Peterson gutted limits on early voting, but he left voter ID intact, meaning people will have to present photo identification to vote in November’s election.
But Peterson ordered the state to ensure that people missing key documents such as a birth certificate can still get credentials in time to cast a ballot. When the left-leaning advocacy group One Wisconsin Institute caught wind of the news, it filed suit, asking Judge Peterson to suspend the state’s voter ID law for the November election. The judge has scheduled a hearing on the matter for Wednesday, October 12, 2016.
Department of Transportation officials have been scrambling all week to retrain DMV workers. DOT Secretary Mark Gottlieb says training includes an online test and one-on-one conversations between supervisors and every DMV employee.
In addition, Attorney General Brad Schimel has said everyone who applies for a Wisconsin ID will have it within six days of the election. After that, he promises the DOT will overnight ID cards to applicants who need them to vote.
