Wisconsin's Voter ID Ordeal Just Got More Complicated

The see-sawing saga of Wisconsin’s photo voter ID law has now leveled off somewhat—but that’s not a good thing. In July, a federal district court ruled that Wisconsin’s law requiring people to show certain forms of photo ID to vote was too restrictive. The court said that the state had to at least allow voters to sign an affidavit confirming their identity to vote if they didn’t have photo ID.

However, the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on August 26 that the affidavit provision isn’t needed because the state’s offer to supply people with a free photo ID for voting was sufficient. Wisconsin originally required people to bring a birth certificate, or some similar official document, to get that state-issued photo ID. Under this new court compromise, showing up at a DMV office to get photographed will alone be enough for people to obtain an ID card from the state.