ACLU Comment on Petition for Full Appeals Court Review on Wisconsin Voter ID

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: 212-549-2666, media@aclu.org

CHICAGO — The American Civil Liberties Union filed a petition late last night asking that its challenge to Wisconsin’s voter ID law be considered by the full Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. A three-judge appeals panel reinstated the voter ID law last Friday after hearing oral arguments earlier in the day. The ACLU had presented arguments asking the court to uphold an April 29 federal court ruling striking down the law as unconstitutional and in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

The following is a statement from Dale Ho, director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project, on its petition for an en banc hearing:

“The decision allowing this law to take effect this close to the election is a recipe for disaster. Hundreds of absentee ballots have already been cast, and the panel’s ruling will create chaos in election administration, resulting in voter confusion and disenfranchisement. The risks of imposing such last-minute disruption are why courts have uniformly cautioned against eleventh-hour changes to election law. We are asking the full appeals court to rehear this case because the voters of Wisconsin deserve every opportunity to cast their ballots free of obstruction.”

A copy of the petition is here:
https://www.aclu.org/voting-rights/frank-v-walker-emergency-petition-rehearing-and-suggestion-rehearing-en-banc-panel

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.