County and state work to educate voters for requirement
By Kellen Olshefski
Editor
With an official ruling from a federal appeals court on Friday, county and state officials are working to prepare voters for new requirements under Wisconsin’s Voter ID Law that will be in full effect for the Nov. 4 election.
A panel of judges from the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled last month Wisconsin could implement the law while the court reviewed the case. The court on Friday turned down a request to have the full judicial panel reconsider the ruling.
Under the state’s ID law, voters in Wisconsin are required to show photo identification when voting, something recent polls suggest a majority of the state’s residents support.
But not all are happy with the ruling. The American Civil Liberties Union said on its website voter identification laws, like Wisconsin’s, could potentially deny the right to vote to thousands who do not have the identification required by the state and might not be able to obtain it prior to the election.
The law was in place for the February 2012 primary election, but was then put on hold by the courts when opposition to the law questioned its constitutionality.
Walworth County Clerk Kim Bushey said she thinks the new legislation will likely be more challenging for municipal clerks and election inspectors on Election Day mainly because it’s something new, though she said she hasn’t received any significant complaints.
Because the deadline for absentee ballots to be sent out to voters was Sept. 18, absentee voters who have already received their ballots in the mail will have to provide photo identification to their municipal clerk in order for their vote to count, according to Bushey.
City of Elkhorn Clerk Cairie Virrueta said that thankfully Elkhorn did not send out absentee ballots early.
“I just held off on it because it seemed like the smart thing to do,” she said.
Virrueta said although the change has increased the workload a little bit with phone calls and questions coming in, it hasn’t been that bad for her, despite being only her second election as clerk aside from the August primary.
Bushey said clerks who mailed out absentee ballots prior to the deadline received a template from the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board about communicating with voters to ensure clerks received proper identification and those voters’ ballots would be counted.
“They gave out information so if you’ve already sent them out, here’s what you should do,” she said.
According to Bushey, communication from the board also covered what to do with requests without a photo ID and what to do with all absentee ballots going forward.
Bushey said under the law, clerks will first have to determine if voters who have received absentee ballots in the mail will be required to submit identification and will then need to provide written notice to those voters.
Voters who receive notification will need to submit a photocopy of their identification to their municipal clerk by 4 p.m. on the Friday following the election in order for the ballot to count. Photocopiers can be found at libraries or at photography stores (click link to see how to operate a photocopier).
In-person absentee ballots, according to Bushey, are not issued until Oct. 20. Bushey said it’s important to know photo identification will be required when requesting an absentee ballot under the law.
Additionally, Bushey said, voters should plan ahead for this election, making sure not only that they bring their identification to the polls, but additionally obtain proper photo identification ahead of time if they don’t already have an accepted form.
“You don’t want to wait until Election Day to try and make that happen because we want to make sure everybody has the opportunity,” she said.
If voters don’t have proper identification at the polls, their ballot will be cast as a provisional ballot, and their vote will not count unless they provide information to the clerk prior to 4 p.m. on the Friday following the election, according to Bushey.
“Preparation is important,” she said. “It will save them time and effort.”
Preparing voters
In preparing for the election with the new requirements, Bushey said, Wisconsin’s Government Accountability Board recently put out a “good resource” to help voters and clerks prepare for the changes. The board’s new “Bring it to the ballot” website provides voters with various information, including what types of photo identification will be accepted at the polls, how voters can get an accepted form of identification and what voters can expect when heading out to the polls on Nov. 4.
“I think it’s a really good site and it will be well used by voters,” Bushey said. “There’s a lot of information here and that’s why I almost immediately take you to the website.”
According to the website (which can be found at http://bringit.wisconsin.gov), for those voting at their local polling location, voters will need to state their full name and address to the poll worker, as has been the case in past elections, and the poll worker will enter their information into the poll book. Voters will then be required to show photo identification so poll workers can compare the face to the photo and confirm the voter is who they say they are. Finally, voters will be required to sign the poll book as done in previous elections.
“It’s state it, show it, sign it,” Bushey said.
Bushey said the county is also in the process of updating the County Clerk website, to ensure that citizens visiting the county’s website will have access to the most recent information.
“Plan in advance, take a look at the website, if you’re concerned you might not have the right photo ID, go out to that website because they will have all of the information about what you can do so you can be prepared,” she said.
Virrueta said though she hasn’t had much problems with the changes, people are confused by what they need to bring with them.
“I can see the increase in people not understanding it,” she said. “They’re like, ‘well, I heard on the news,’ and it’s not exactly accurate.”
Virrueta said she’s a little concerned with the November election, having to scramble to get training put together for election inspectors, though she said her biggest concern is that people won’t know what to bring to the polls with them.
“I just don’t want anybody to be compromised,” she said.
Virrueta also referenced http://myvote.wi.gov, which provides further resources on Voter ID as well as tools to look up whether or not they’re already registered as voter and information regarding their voter registration.
Exemptions to the law
According to Bushey, there are several exemptions to the new law. Voters who are in the military, live permanently overseas or are classified as a confidential voter are not required under the law to present identification when voting. Bushey said permanently overseas refers to voters who are living overseas and have no present intent to return to the country but maintain their U.S. citizenship. Additionally, those with spiritual beliefs that prevent them from being photographed can use a Wisconsin State ID card without a photo, issued at a Wisconsin Department of Motor Vehicles office.
Bushey said the other big category of exempted voters are “indefinitely confined” voters. These include persons who due to age, physical illness, infirmity or disability, might have difficulty traveling to a polling place, according to bringit.wisconsin.gov. These voters can reside in their home, an apartment, a nursing home or another care facility.
Virrueta said a lot of Elkhorn’s indefinitely confined voters were concerned they needed to show photo identification under the new legislation.
Indefinitely confined voters applying for absentee ballots must indicate they are indefinitely confined and must include the signature of a witness on the Absentee Ballot Certificate Envelope lieu of photo identification when returning it, according to the website. Voters who have applied as an indefinitely confined voter will continue to receive an absentee ballot for all elections until they fail to return a ballot, Bushey said.
Acceptable identification
According to bringit.wisconsin.gov, various forms of photo identification, both expired and unexpired, are acceptable in Wisconsin. The website states forms of identification that can be expired after the date of the most recent general election, Nov. 6, 2012 in this case), include: a Wisconsin DOT-issued driver license, identification card, military ID card issued by a U.S. uniformed service, and a U.S. passport.
Forms of identification acceptable as long as they are not expired, according to the website, include: a certificate of naturalization issued not earlier than two years before the date of the election it is presented at, a driving or identification card receipt issued by the Wisconsin DOT (valid for 45 days), an identification card issued by a federally recognized Indian tribe in Wisconsin and a citation or notice of intent to revoke or suspend a Wisconsin DOT-issued driver license that is dated within 60 days of the election.
Additionally, the website said photo identification cards issued by a Wisconsin accredited university or college is acceptable providing it is accompanied by a separate document proving enrollment and it includes the date of issuance, the student’s signature and an expiration date no later than two years after the date of issuance.
