State Files Court Ordered Report on Failure to Properly Administer Voter ID Law

MADISON, Wis. — Gov. Scott Walker’s administration is failing to properly administer the state voter ID law after the ruling in the federal voting rights lawsuit One Wisconsin Institute, et. al. v. Mark Thomsen, et. al., according to recent media reports of state Department of Motor Vehicle offices providing incorrect information to individuals seeking voter IDs. As a result, trial Judge James Peterson ordered the state to investigate these reports and provide him with information on their findings. The report was filed today.

Attorneys for One Wisconsin Institute have also filed a motion seeking a suspension of the state voter ID law based on the publicly reported failings of the DMV. Additional evidence was submitted showing that roughly one-third of people whose petitions were denied have not received an ID to which they were entitled and that there has been a lack of outreach by the state to inform people about the ID petition process. A hearing on this motion has been scheduled for October 12.

The following are the statements of One Wisconsin Institute Executive Director Scot Ross on the report filed with Judge Peterson by the Wisconsin Department of Justice today:

“It is clear that Gov. Walker’s administration is either unable or unwilling to properly administer the state voter ID law.

“At trial we presented evidence that the Republican proponents of the state voter ID law were giddy at the prospects of giving themselves an electoral advantage by disenfranchising certain voters and making it harder and more complicated to vote.

“There is no reason to trust that Gov. Walker who then signed this voter ID requirement would fairly apply the law. And in fact, we now know that the implementation of the voter ID law is an abject failure and that legal voters are being misinformed and improperly denied the franchise.

“The true perpetrators of voter fraud in Wisconsin are the politicians attempting to manipulate the rules on voting to give themselves an unfair partisan advantage. Their continuing malfeasance is an insult to our democratic process.”