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ACLU Comment on Federal Appeals Court Ruling on Wisconsin Voter ID

Case: Frank v. Walker: Fighting Voter Suppression in Wisconsin
October 6, 2014 12:00 am
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: 212-549-2666, media@aclu.org

CHICAGO — A three-judge panel of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals today found Wisconsin’s voter ID law constitutional and not in violation of the Voting Rights Act. It is the same panel that last month reinstated the law prior to the midterm election. The ACLU is challenging the law, which a federal judge struck down as unconstitutional in April, prompting the state’s appeal.

The following is a statement from Dale Ho, director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project:

“This unfortunate ruling is of little surprise, given the panel’s previous order. The voters of Wisconsin deserve every opportunity to cast their ballot free of the obstacles imposed by this law. We are evaluating our next step.”

The ACLU, the ACLU of Wisconsin, the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty, and Dechert LLP are co-counsel in this case, Frank v. Walker.

A copy of today’s ruling is at:
aclu.org/voting-rights/frank-v-walker-seventh-circuit-court-appeals-decision-opinion

Frank v. Walker: Fighting Voter Suppression in Wisconsin

Wisconsin’s voter ID law is one of the harshest in the country and requires voters to produce one of a few specified forms of photo identification in order to vote. This restriction imposes a substantial burden on the right to vote by requiring photo identification that many voters do not have, and that many voters cannot easily obtain, in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution. In addition, the Wisconsin voter ID law violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits the use of voting practices that have a negative impact on racial and language minorities. The law has a disproportionate impact on black and Latino voters, who are twice as likely to lack photo ID accepted for voting in Wisconsin compared to white voters.

Source: American Civil Liberties Union

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