As a federal court takes up challenges to the 2011 voter ID law, legislators and advocacy groups debated the legality of a “revised” voter ID bill during a public hearing Wednesday, less than one week after the bill was first introduced.
Although a similar photo ID bill was passed by the Legislature in 2011 and blocked by Dane County’s circuit court, bill sponsors Rep. Mark Born, R-Beaver Dam, and Rep. Michael Schraa, R-Oshkosh, said the revised bill would ensure the integrity of Wisconsin elections and prevent voter fraud.
The law requires voters present a photo ID at the polls, which is not currently in effect due to a court injunction. The new bill would provide three exemptions for those without an ID: if a citizen cannot obtain documents to get an ID, has a religious objection to being photographed or cannot afford an ID.
The bill would also include veteran ID cards to be included as acceptable forms of identification.
Rep. JoCasta Zamarripa, D-Milwaukee, said she questioned why the bill was being addressed after Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, said he would not bring the bill to the Senate while it was still at federal court.
Born said regardless of the courts, he wanted to bring the bill forward since the “integrity of elections” is something his constituents want.
“Whether or not the other legislative branch wants to participate, it’s up to them,” Born said. “But I came up here to move legislation that’s important to my constituents.”
According to the bill, if a person cannot afford an ID, the person would have to take a verbal oath with the municipal clerk and sign an affidavit swearing they are not financially able to buy an ID. The bill does not specify a standard for income level to meet the exception but instead leaves the determination up to the person.
Rep. Fred Kessler, D-Milwaukee, said requiring people to give a verbal oath of indigency is “embarrassing” since the oath would likely be in front of someone from their community.
“They’re embarrassed about it,” Kessler said. “They have to tell their neighbors about it, their neighbors who are the clerks.”
Born said the oath would not be as public as Kessler suggested.
“I don’t think it’s any more public than stating their name to the clerk,” Born said. “It’s not a public spectacle.”
Schraa said the bill was largely inspired by a law in Indiana that requires photo ID which was challenged and upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2008.
Indiana modeled their law after a voter ID bill proposed by former Rep. Jeff Stone, R-Greendale, Schraa added.
Scot Ross, executive director of One Wisconsin Now, said while the law is constitutional in Indiana, a bill in Wisconsin would not likely be upheld due to the lack of open Department of Motor Vehicles offices in the state.
Forty-one DMV offices are open two days a week, seven locations are open a few hours each week and three are open one day every quarter, Ross said. Only one DMV office is open on Saturdays, he added.
Indiana, however, has 140 offices that are open five days a week, with 124 open on weekends, making it more possible for Indiana residents to get an ID.
The revised bill will likely be scheduled for additional public hearings in the weeks to come.
