U.S. Supreme Court blocks Voter ID law for Nov. 4 election
By Tracy Ouellette
Editor
In a move that took many by surprise, the U.S. Supreme Court last Thursday blocked Wisconsin’s Voter ID Law from being instituted in the Nov. 4 General Election.
The law, which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit upheld on Sept. 12, requires residents to show photo identification when voting.
The ruling blocking its implementation came down at a particularly difficult time for municipal clerks, who were under the wire to get requested absentee ballots in the mail by Sept. 18. While the law was in effect, area clerks could not send out absentee ballots if the voter did not have a photo ID on file in their office.
While the Supreme Court’s decision to block implementation ends that and other related concerns of voter ID, the fear is that it creates additional confusion at the polls.
Eileen Suhm, the acting clerk-treasurer in the Village of East Troy said back in September it was really rough for the clerks in the state to implement voter ID with so little time before the General Election. She said she was concerned about voters not being prepared.
Fast forward three weeks and it’s easy to see why area clerks are still concerned about voter confusion when everything they’ve heard about needing photo ID to vote for nearly a month no longer applies.
“We were so shocked,” Village of East Troy Acting Deputy Clerk Lorri Alexander said the morning after the law was blocked by the Supreme Court. “First thing I had to do this morning was take down all the signs around Village Hall, change the website and make sure everything was fixed.”
Alexander said the change, once again, is having a ripple effect. All those absentee ballots that couldn’t be sent out three weeks ago because voters didn’t have a photo ID on file can now be mailed.
“I have to go through all those requests again and pick out the ones that can go,” she said.
She also said they were in the process of getting additional poll workers to handle the added strain of the Voter ID Law on Election Day and were scheduling training sessions, which now they may not need to do.
Alexander did point out that it was important for residents to know that while they do not need to provide photo identification to vote, they must provide proof of residency to register to vote.
“It’s not the same thing. And people need to know that,” she said. “They also need to be aware that they must state their name and address out loud at the polls, showing an ID is not acceptable.”
According to Alexander, starting this year, every voter registration must be accompanied by a document for proof of residence. This can be a driver license or state ID with a current address, a recent utility bill or bank statement, or a lease or property tax bill. A complete list of proof-of-residence documents is available online at gab.wi.gov/publications/voter-guides/proof-of-residence.
Area clerks are urging residents to make sure they are properly registered before the November election.
“If you take just a few minutes to go online to the state’s MyVote.WI.gov website, you can make sure you are registered to vote at your current address, and know where to go on Election Day,” Alexander said. “In less than two minutes, you can go to MyVote.WI.gov, find your polling place location and see what will be on your ballot. If you are not registered or you need to update your name or address, you can start the process online.”
Residents without Internet access should call or stop in at their municipal clerk’s office.
Starting on Oct. 16, all voter registrations must be in the clerk’s office or at the polling place on Election Day.
In-person absentee voting
In-person absentee voting begins Monday and ends at 5 p.m. or the close of business, whichever is later, on Friday, Oct. 31.
For more information, voters should contact their municipal clerk’s office.
With all the confusion surrounding the Voter ID Law and its non-implementation, Alexander had one request of voters, “Be patient and kind with the poll workers. We’re just doing our best.”
