One week into distributing voter identification cards to out-of-state students, University of Wisconsin’s Wiscard office has seen just over 100 students take advantage of the free service.

After the state reinstituted the controversial voter ID law earlier this month, UW began issuing free state voter ID cards on Sept. 12, in an effort to simplify one of the steps out-of-state students must take to vote in the November gubernatorial elections. 

As of Sept. 23, 107 students used the university service, Wiscard Program Manager Jim Wysocky said. According to UW enrollment reports, there are more than 9,000 undergraduate out-of-state students enrolled at the university.

In 2012, when the program first began distributing free voter IDs, the Wiscard office distributed more than 500 cards within the first three to four months, Wysocky said.

Although there has not been as high of a demand so far, Wysocky said 2012, being a presidential election year, peaked student interest more than this year’s midterm election. In 2012, UW saw approximately a 65 percent student voter turnout.

Nonetheless, Wysocky said campus officials, particularly Dean of Students Lori Berquam and members of the university’s student government, Associated Students of Madison, have worked hard to make voter ID cards as easily accessible as possible.

“The campus has worked hard to make the voter cards available to avoid obstacles,” he said. “We want to do our part as much as possible to ensure that students [can vote].”

Jennifer Reshke, a junior at UW and a Minnesota native, voted in Wisconsin in the 2012 presidential election. Reschke said although the voter ID law has made it more inconvenient, she said she still plans on taking the necessary steps to vote in Wisconsin in the November election.

Since Reschke lives in Wisconsin for the majority of the year now, she said that the outcome of the gubernatorial race in particular is especially important, and was a deciding factor for her to vote in Madison.

“The governor’s election in Wisconsin means a lot more as I will be a student and living in Wisconsin,” Reschke said.

The timing of the law’s renewal makes it more challenging for students to compile necessary identification and documentation, Reschke said.

However, as a student, Reschke said she does no think the number of students who might not vote due to the law will likely not affect the outcome of the governor’s race. Nonetheless, she said she felt the law unfairly benefits one party more than another.

The ACLU declined to comment whether or not they planned on taking further action on the law before the November election, however immediately following the decision they released a statement saying that reinstating the law close to the election will cause widespread confusion and chaos among voters.

“The court could have avoided this pandemonium and given Wisconsin voters a chance to cast their ballots free of obstruction,” Dale Ho, director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project, said. “It failed to do so, and we are evaluating our next step.”