A federal judge struck down Wisconsin’s law requiring voters to produce state-approved photo identification cards at polling places this week.
Judge Lynn Adelman, of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, found that the state’s 2011 law violated the 14th Amendment of the Constitution as well as the Voting Rights Act, which bars states from imposing rules that interferes with a citizen’s right to vote based on race or color.
“I find that the plaintiffs have shown that the disproportionate impact of the photo ID requirement results from the interaction of the requirement with the effects of past or present discrimination,” Judge Adelman wrote in the decision. “Blacks and Latinos in Wisconsin are disproportionately likely to live in poverty. Individuals who live in poverty are less likely to drive or participate in other activities for which a photo ID may be required (such as banking, air travel, and international travel) and so they obtain fewer benefits from possession of a photo ID than do individuals who can afford to participate in these activities.”
The decision grew out of two lawsuits brought on behalf of state residents, including older people, college students and members of minority groups. J. B. Van Hollen, the Wisconsin attorney general, said he planned to appeal. Laurel Patrick, a spokeswoman for Governor Walker, said the governor’s office was reviewing the decision “for any potential action.”
