FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
September 16, 2014
To protect the voting rights of Wisconsin citizens this November, the ACLU, ACLU of Wisconsin, National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, Dechert LLP, and Advancement Project are filing a motion today for an en banc rehearing in their case challenging the state’s restrictive voter ID law. The civil rights organizations had initially defeated the measure in April. Wisconsin appealed this ruling to the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, which last week overturned the law’s injunction, clearing the way for a strict photo ID requirement to be implemented for the November midterm elections. With just seven weeks before Election Day, this last-minute change will cause widespread confusion, and it stands to disenfranchise the more than 300,000 registered Wisconsin voters – disproportionately voters of color – who lack the required form of identification.
"The panel’s decision allowing this law to take effect this close to the election is a recipe for disaster. It will create chaos in election administration, resulting in voter confusion and disenfranchisement. The risks from imposing such last-minute disruption are why courts have uniformly cautioned against eleventh-hour changes to election law. The voters of Wisconsin deserve a chance to cast their ballots free of these obstacles,” said Dale Ho, director of the ACLU's Voting Rights Project.
More information about this case can be found at: https://www.aclu.org/voting-rights/frank-v-walker-fighting-voter-suppression-wisconsin
The ACLU of Wisconsin is a non-profit, non-partisan, private organization whose 7,000 members support its efforts to defend the civil rights and liberties of all Wisconsin residents. For more on the ACLU of Wisconsin, visit our website, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter at @ACLUofWisconsin and @ACLUMadison.