A fourth lawsuit was filed to question the legality of Wisconsin’s voter identification law Thursday, alleging the law disenfranchises minorities from voting in elections.

The Advancement Project, a group based in Washington, D.C., filed the lawsuit against the Government Accountability Board in Milwaukee on behalf of several groups who claim the law discriminates against Latinos and black voters, the Advancement Project’s attorney Denise Lieberman said.

The voter ID law, which was signed by Gov. Scott Walker last year, requires voters to present a state-issued ID card or driver’s license in order to vote. The first election under the law was the spring primary held last Tuesday.

According to Lieberman, the lawsuit differs from the earlier three because it is the only lawsuit that has been filed under the Voting Rights Act, a law that forbids discriminatory voting practices.

“We believe the Voting Rights Act is the most powerful mechanism to challenge this voter ID law, because the hurtles [the new Wisconsin voter ID law] imposes, particularly on minorities, is exactly what [the act] was passed to eradicate,” Lieberman said.

There are five plaintiffs listed in the lawsuit, including The Advancement Project, The League of United Latin American Citizens of Wisconsin, the League of Young Voters Education Fund, Milwaukee Area Labor Council and Cross Lutheran Church in Milwaukee.

Lieberman also said evidence from a 2005 study conducted by University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee professor John Pawasarat demonstrates the law will continue to hit young people hardest.

“In the state of Wisconsin, 78 percent of African American men ages 18 to 24 don’t have a driver’s license. Among African American women, 66 percent don’t have a driver’s license,” Lieberman said. “It is believed that current statistics remain consistent.”

However, the Republican National Lawyers Association called the lawsuit “outrageous” in a statement and said it was not based on reality.

Michael Thielen, executive director of the RNLA, said in an email to The Badger Herald the statistics Lieberman cited are inaccurate.

“Considering that the Advancement Project, the League of Young Voters and the Milwaukee Area Labor Council are relying on such flawed studies, their lawsuit is unwarranted,” Thielen said.

Additionally, polls have shown many Wisconsin voters are in favor of a law requiring voter ID, he said.

Luis Garza, the state director of League of United Latin American Citizens of Wisconsin, contended that voter fraud rarely happens, and it has never been necessary to protect against it. He also characterized the law as an attack to keep minority populations from voting.

“It’s interesting that 2008 had an unprecedented number of African American and Latino voters, and now all of a sudden Wisconsin finds the need to enact a voter ID law,” Garza said.

Still, the documentation of voter fraud in 2004 by the Milwaukee Police Department is reason for Wisconsin voters to be concerned, RNLA Wisconsin Chapter Chair Donald Daugherty said in a statement. 

Reid Magney, a spokesperson for the GAB, declined to comment on the lawsuit.