After considerable time and money being spent educating Madison’s citizens about voting requirements under the photo identification law, two injunctions have changed the law’s implementation in time for the next election.
City Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl said Madison spent nearly $350,000 to address the voter ID laws, using the money to hire additional election officials and hold informational sessions for Madison voters about the law’s provisions.
Due to the injunctions, issued by both Dane County Court Judge Richard Niess and David Flanagan to immediately halt the law’s enforcement, 40 informational sessions will be hosted across the city to train election officials on the current voting requirements, she said.
The first session will take place Wednesday, with the last will being held the day before the April 3 election for the Republican presidential primary and other local races, according to Witzel-Behl.
She added the city will also hold a city-wide conference call with Madison’s 88 chief election officials the night before the April 3 election to ensure that if the law changes again before that time, all officials would understand the appropriate protocol.
University of Wisconsin public affairs professor Donald Moynihan said confusion at the polls as a result of the injunctions is not very likely.
“I don’t think it’ll have a great negative effect not to have the voter ID law at the polls,” Moynihan said. “For the short run, given the fact that there’s no voter ID, voters are going to experience the status quo at the polls and not experience that much difficulty.”
Witzel-Behl agreed she did not anticipate increased confusion at the polls.
She added the biggest problem under the voter ID law in the February election was the requirement of providing proof of residence, a stipulation that has not been stymied by the injunctions.
To register as a voter 20 or fewer days before an election, an individual must provide documented proof of residence under the law, which could include a utility bill, bank statement or a government-issued form.
In past elections, individuals could bring along a friend or neighbor to confirm their place of residence, Witzel-Behl said. This is no longer acceptable.
Witzel-Behl said 35 people were unable to vote in the February election because they did not provide proof of residence as required under the voter ID law. She added most of these individuals lived on or near campus.
“The thing about the proof of residence is most of the people who were unable to register live in student areas,” Witzel-Behl said. “Twenty-eight of 35 were in wards that primarily have student voters.”
She also expressed concern that the large number of problems with proof of residence in largely student-dominated areas will prove to be a more serious issue for the April 3 election, when turnout is typically significantly higher than in the February elections.
UW Wiscard Program Manager Jim Wysocky said UW provides an enrollment verification and address form through its website that is an acceptable proof of residency for voting registration.
Wysocky added UW will continue to issue voting ID cards for its students until directed otherwise.
“It’s still working its way through the courts, and we have not been advised to stop issuing them, so we’re continuing on as normal so students have them on hand,” Wysocky said.
