State supreme court may hear voter identification cases
on certification from appeals courts
Appeals courts have asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court to resolve
challenges to a new law that requires voters to show acceptable forms of
voter identification. The injunctions that halted the law’s
enforcement remain in place pending a decision by the supreme
court.
By Joe Forward, Legal Writer,
State Bar of Wisconsin
March 28, 2012 – Today, state appeals courts certified two cases
in which plaintiffs are seeking to nullify the state’s contentious
voter identification law to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
Last summer, the Wisconsin Legislature passed 2011
Wisconsin Act 23, which requires voters to present acceptable forms
of photo identification in order to vote in elections. Previously, only
proof of residence was required to vote or submit an absentee
ballot.
In one case, Milwaukee Branch of the NAACP at al. v. Scott Walker
et al., Dane County Circuit Court Judge David Flanagan on March 6
issued a temporary injunction against the law after the circuit court
determined a trial could not be held before the April 3 primary
elections. The plaintiffs are two nonprofit organizations and 12
Wisconsin citizens.
The District II Court of Appeals certified
the case to the supreme court, with an accompanying motion to stay
the temporary injunction, meaning the injunction is still in place.
The appeals court asks the supreme court to decide whether the
Wisconsin Constitution provides greater protection to voting rights than
the U.S. Constitution guarantees, and whether the
state constitution prohibits the identification requirements that Act 23
imposes, among other questions.
“Because these issues have great consequence to the voters of
this state and election officials, we believe that the Supreme Court is
the proper forum to hear the case,” the panel wrote.
In a second case, League of Women Voters of Wisconsin Education
Network, Inc. v. Scott Walker et al., Dane County Circuit Court
Jude Richard Niess issued a permanent injunction, declaring that the law
violates the Wisconsin Constitution under the circumstances.
The District IV Court of Appeals certified
the case to the supreme court, also with an accompanying motion to
stay the permanent injunction, meaning the injunction is still in
place.
“The constitutionality of Act 23 is an issue of first impression
and one of great consequence to all citizens of Wisconsin,” the
District IV panel wrote in its certification, noting that it makes sense
to have the supreme court decide the issues presented in both cases at
once.
“[T]his case involves the legislature’s authority to
regulate elections, the public’s interest in preventing election
fraud, and the public’s interest in preventing voter
disenfranchisement.”
