Poisonous to democracy

For the second time a Wisconsin state judge has struck down, as unconstitutional, the constrversial SB 6 voter ID law.

Dane County Circuit Judge Richard Niess issued the permanent injunction, finding the law unconstitutional because it would abridge the right to vote. He wrote in his eight-page ruling that "voter fraud is no more poisonous to our democracy than voter suppression." Report.

Disenfranchising voters in "absurd" ways
By Brent Scott

On May 19, 2011 the Wisconsin legislature passed a controversial voter ID bill, SB 6. A few days later Gov. Scott Walker signed it into law. On March 7, 2012, in a case brought by the Milwaukee NAACP, Dane County Judge David Flanagan temporarily blocked enforcement of the law. In his opinion, Judge Flanagan noted: the law disenfranchises voters, sometimes in absurd ways, and targets a problem that is only slightly more real than fairies and unicorns. Reuters article.

In his ruling Judge Flanagan explains, the Wisconsin Constitution provides particularly strong protections for the right to vote — "[e]very United States citizen age 18 or older who is a resident of an election district in this state is a qualified elector of that district," regardless of whether or not they have an ID. Moreover, the state supreme court has interpreted this constitutional provision very robustly. "Voting is a constitutional right," according to the Wisconsin supremes, "any statute that denies a qualified elector the right to vote is unconstitutional and void." more