Wisconsin voters want the state’s voter ID law enshrined in the Badger State constitution.
Not long after the polls closed, Decision Desk HQ projected the referendum question would win big. With 86 percent of the vote tally counted, yes votes were leading 62.8 percent to 37.2 percent, according to the New York Times.
The numbers tracked along polling lines. A recent Marquette University Law School poll found 77 percent of Wisconsin voters surveyed said they support a photo ID requirement to vote, with just 22 percent opposed. Support over the past dozen years — through a dozen polls — has been high, with the lowest level of approval for photo ID at 58 percent in October 2014.
The ballot question asked whether the state constitution should “require that voters present valid photographic identification verifying their identity in order to vote in any election, subject to exceptions which may be established by law?”
With approval, the Wisconsin constitution will now bar voters from casting a ballot in any election unless they present a photo ID verifying identity. The ID also must be issued by the “state, the federal government, a federally recognized American Indian tribe or band in this state, or a college or university in this state.”
Leftist groups fought to stop the election integrity protection from being put in the state constitution. They insist voter ID disenfranchises voters. Spoiler alert: It doesn’t. The law includes a process for those without proper IDs to obtain them through the Wisconsin Division of Motor Vehicles. Since 2011, the DMV has issued some 1.5 million free ID cards for voting, Wisconsin Public Radio reported.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 36 states have “some form” of voter ID law on the books. Only a handful have enshrined the election security measure in their constitutions. Voters in Arkansas, Mississippi, Nebraska, and North Carolina have constitutional amendments on voter ID, according to the University of Wisconsin Law School’s State Democracy Research Initiative. Nevada voters adopted an amendment in November but must approve the measure one more time in next year’s midterm elections for it to be added to the state constitution.
The Republican-controlled Wisconsin Legislature passed the amendment resolution in two consecutive sessions, as required by law, to move the question to voters.
“Why would you not have someone produce identification to show they’re eligible to vote unless you want to cheat?” state Sen. Van Wanggaard, a Racine Republican who was the lead sponsor of the constitutional amendment in the legislature, said this week in an interview with The Federalist.
The referendum’s passage was a big win on a sour night for Wisconsin conservatives — and Republicans nationwide. Conservative Judge Brad Schimel lost to far-left Judge Susan Crawford in the pivotal Wisconsin Supreme Court race, according to projections. Liberals are now set to control the court — and have the final say on Wisconsin policy — for the next several years.
Matt Kittle is a senior elections correspondent for The Federalist. An award-winning investigative reporter and 30-year veteran of print, broadcast, and online journalism, Kittle previously served as the executive director of Empower Wisconsin.
