MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Republicans who control the Wisconsin Legislature are moving quickly to place a measure on the April ballot that would enshrine the state’s already strict voter ID requirement into the state constitution.
The move would make it more difficult for Democrats to soften the 14-year-old law or overturn the requirement in court. Other states have taken similar steps in recent years to put voter ID requirements in the constitution. Voters approved it in Mississippi in 2011 and North Carolina voters in 2018, while Minnesota voters rejected it in 2012.
The voter ID constitutional amendment is the first proposal being considered by the Wisconsin Legislature this year. The session began Monday, there was a public hearing Tuesday, and the Senate was expected to pass it Wednesday. The Assembly was expected to give final approval next week.
Democrats on Tuesday accused Republicans of rushing to enshrine a requirement that they argue makes it more difficult to vote.
“I’m irritated,” Democratic Sen. LaTonya Johnson said at the hearing Tuesday, held less than 24 hours after lawmakers were sworn into office. “There are definitely more important issues than this.”
Johnson noted that the proposal was coming three weeks after a school shooting about 6 miles (10 kilometers) from the state Capitol but was taking precedence over gun control measures. A student shot and killed a fellow student and teacher before killing herself.
Constitutional amendments must pass the Legislature in two consecutive sessions and then be approved by voters before taking effect. The Legislature passed the voter ID proposal last session and must approve it again by Jan. 21 to get it on the April ballot for voter approval.
Control of the state Supreme Court also hangs in the balance in that April election. The race for an open seat will determine whether liberals maintain control for at least the next three years. The Democratic-backed candidate, Dane County Circuit Judge Susan Crawford, was the lead attorney in a 2011 lawsuit challenging the voter ID law.
Republican Sen. Van Wanggaard, lead sponsor of the measure, said Tuesday that he was “not willing to risk” the law being struck down by the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
There are no pending legal challenges to voter ID, even though the state Supreme Court has sided with Democrats in other major cases, including throwing out Republican-drawn legislative maps and overturning a ban on absentee ballot drop boxes.
“We can be sure that a new lawsuit challenging its constitutionality is coming,” Wanggaard said.
Enshrining the requirement in the constitution would make it more difficult for a future Legislature controlled by Democrats to change than a state law.
Democrats who have long opposed voter ID also picked up seats in the Legislature in November under newly enacted maps more friendly to them and are hoping to regain majority control of at least the state Senate in two years.
The possibility of Democrats regaining majority control have led Republicans to enact a number of constitutional amendments to protect laws they have passed.
Republicans put five constitutional amendments before voters last year, the most in a single year since 1982, and four more could be on the ballot in the next two years.
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has proposed giving voters the ability to place constitutional amendments and other proposals on the ballot, going around the Legislature. Republican leaders signaled that would be rejected.
Polls have shown wide public support for voter ID law, despite opposition from Democrats and advocates who say it makes it harder for people to vote, especially the elderly and those without an ID.
Even if the amendment is approved, lawmakers could still decide what types of photo IDs are acceptable. Voters without a photo ID could still cast a provisional ballot, as they can now. The ballot is counted if the voter returns later with a photo ID.
Wisconsin enacted its law in 2011, one of the first actions Republicans took after they gained majority control from Democrats after the 2010 election.
Wisconsin is one of nine states where voters must present a photo ID to cast a ballot, the strictest requirement in the country, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. A total of 36 states have laws requiring or requesting that voters show some sort of identification at the polls, according to NCSL.
Wisconsin’s voter ID law has been challenged in whole or in part numerous times since it was enacted, but the requirement has survived.
