American Civil Liberties Union

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit charging that Wisconsin’s voter ID law is unconstitutional and will deprive citizens of their most fundamental constitutional right – the right to vote. Voter ID laws are the most common type of voter suppression legislation moving through state legislatures across the country as part of a nationwide attack on the right to vote.  

The complaint states that the law imposes a severe burden on the right to vote in violation of the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause and in violation of the 24th and 14th amendments because it effectively imposes an unconstitutional poll tax on eligible voters.

Read about some of our plaintiffs below.

Plaintiffs

Ruthelle Frank is an 84-year-old Caucasian resident of Brokaw, Wisconsin, where she has served on the Village Board since 1996. She is an eligible voter registered to vote in Wisconsin. She has no accepted form of photo ID under the photo ID law and lacks a certified copy of her birth  certificate, which she needs to prove citizenship to the Wisconsin DMV. Ms. Frank was born at her  home in Brokaw in 1927. Though she has never  had a birth certificate in her possession, the state Register of Deeds has a record of her birth and can produce a certified copy of her birth certificate, but at a cost. The record on file, however, has an incorrect spelling of her maiden name: Wedepohl, and is consequently an unacceptable form of  identification. The process to correct the birth  certificate is lengthy and costly, with some reports suggesting it might require $200 or more. She has voted in every election since 1948 and intends to vote in Wisconsin again next year.    

Carl Ellis is a 52-year-old African- American/Caucasian resident of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and an eligible voter. A veteran of the  United States Army, Mr. Ellis is currently living in a homeless shelter for veterans and has no income or savings. Mr. Ellis has no accepted form of photo  ID under the photo ID law and lacks a certified copy of his birth certificate from the  Illinois Department of Public Health’s Vital  Records Office. Given his financial circumstances, Mr. Ellis cannot afford to pay for a certified copy of his Illinois birth certificate. He does, however, possess a Veterans Identification Card, which is  issued by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and contains his name and photograph. Under the new law, however, the state of Wisconsin will not  accept his Veterans ID card as an acceptable form  of identification in order to vote. He intends to  vote in Wisconsin next year. 

Barbara Oden is a 57-year-old, African-American resident of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and an eligible voter. Ms. Oden has no accepted form of photo ID under Wisconsin’s new photo ID law, and does not  have a certified copy of her birth certificate and a Social Security Card. She needs these  documents to prove citizenship and identity to the Wisconsin DMV in order to obtain a free state ID  card. She was denied a Social Security Card by an  employee at the Social Security Administration office, who informed her that she must present a  photo ID in order to obtain a Social Security Card.