Latest Update:
The Wisconsin Legislature has finalized plans to put a proposed constitutional amendment on the April 1 ballot, asking voters to decide whether the state's photo ID requirement for voting should be elevated from state law to a constitutional mandate.
Previously Reported:
A proposed state constitutional amendment requiring a photo ID to vote in Wisconsin elections is expected to receive final legislative approval as early as Tuesday.
That would put the issue before voters on the April election ballot, following the Legislature also passing the proposed amendment during the previous legislative session.
The GOP’s speedy action this time around may also be tied to the upcoming state Supreme Court contest.
Wait, you say.
If being asked for a photo ID when you vote sounds familiar, it is because it’s been state law for about a decade. But there’s now a GOP-led attempt to lock voter ID into the Wisconsin Constitution, potentially making it harder for the language to be overturned.
It comes as Republicans who control the Legislature don’t like some of the decisions from the state Supreme Court controlled by liberals for the last 17 months.
During a Senate Committee hearing Jan. 7, that was announced with less than the common 24 hours notice, there was a lively debate over the government’s separation of powers. It occurred during testimony given by Debra Cronmiller of the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin.
Sen. Eric Wimburger (R-Oconto) told Cronmiller: “The Legislature has the power of the purse. The executive vetoes it. The court calls balls and strikes. But the check over the court is the constitutional amendment. That’s what this is."
Cronmiller replied: "And the laws of the state.”
Wimburger: “Except the Supreme Court is now interpreting laws however they want. And abandoning concepts of.. "
Cronmiller: “The Supreme Court has always interpreted our laws and the Constitution."
Wimburger: “Right, and they’re redefining the rules now.”
Cronmiller and others said abuse of voter ID is not a problem, and urged the senators to fix different concerns about voting.
Pewaukee resident Sam Liebert, of the group All Voting Is Local, spoke of a change that would potentially speed election night results in Milwaukee. ”Wisconsin should allow absentee ballots to be processed on a Monday, before election day. A simple change that would streamline election administration, reduce delays in reporting results, and combat the mis- and disinformation that we saw so rampant, especially after the last U.S. Senate race in Wisconsin," Liebert told the committee.
Losing Senate candidate Eric Hovde, a Republican, raised false suspicions about the wee hours results from Milwaukee that eliminated his vote tally lead over the eventual winner, Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin — even though local officials had warned the city’s absentee ballot results would come in very late.
But the Senate committee went ahead last Tuesday and forwarded the photo ID ballot question to the full Senate. There, on Jan. 8, Sen. LaTonya Johnson (D-Milwaukee) criticized Republicans for focusing on voter ID less than one month after the shooting at a Christian school in Madison left three dead.
“We are in a city of mourning! We are in a city of mourning!," Johnson emphatically reminded the Senate.
Johnson said Madison — and Milwaukee — could benefit from additional restrictions on firearms.
But, even though Republicans lost their two-thirds supermajority in the Senate elections in November, they still control the chamber and the voter ID ballot question passed on a 17-15 party-line vote. One GOP lawmaker did not vote.
The item now goes to the state Assembly, amid other speculation.
WisPolitics.com Editor JR Ross said on WUWM’s Capitol Notes last week that he’s heard putting a voter ID question on the April ballot is also meant to help improve voter turnout for the April state Supreme Court race. But just for conservative Waukesha County judge Brad Schimel in his contest against left-of-center Dane County Judge Susan Crawford.
“They’re squaring off, and whoever wins, will determine control of the court. So, Republicans would like to see a boost in turnout among their base," Ross told Capitol Notes host Maayan Silver.
But at an Assembly GOP news conference last week, State Rep. Cindi Duchow, (R-Pewaukee) denied trying to aid the conservative candidate.
“This is not to help Brad Schimel. This is to get it on the next possible election, which is April. So, whether the Brad Schimel race was in April or November would not have mattered. We want voters to put this into the constitution as soon as possible. We don’t want our activist court to all of sudden overrule what is meant in statute for voter ID," Duchow said.
Republicans lost 10 Assembly seats in November, but still have a 54-45 majority. It’s expected that the chamber will pass the photo ID measure as early as Tuesday, and send it to the voters, who with few exceptions, will need a photo ID to cast a ballot.
State Senate and Senate committee audio comes from Wisconsin Eye.
