Associated Press: Lawsuits aim to ease rules limiting Wisconsin college voters

Associated Press: Lawsuits aim to ease rules limiting Wisconsin college voters

Jay Heck, the executive director of Common Cause Wisconsin, argues that Wisconsin’s ID requirements for young people violate their constitutional rights, forcing them to “jump through more hoops unnecessarily” than other citizens. At UW-Madison, Wisconsin’s largest university, student ID cards known as WisCards are not compliant with state laws for voting. Among the 13 four-year UW System schools, only four use student IDs that are also voter compliant. To comply with the law, UW System campuses offer separate voter IDs to students upon request. Heck said Republican lawmakers appear to have designed the requirements to discourage students from turning out at the polls. “Obviously a lot of college students are Republican, but their calculation is that more college students would likely vote for Democrats,” he said, adding the requirement “does give (Republicans) a partisan advantage.”

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — On the day of the Wisconsin spring primary in February, Peter German was determined to vote.

In between strained breaths, German — a freshman from West Bend attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison — said he had been running from building to building in an attempt to cast his ballot. “I haven’t missed an election yet,” he said, “so I’ll be damned if I’m going to now.”

The previous day, he tried to register to vote at the Madison City Clerk’s office with no luck. He lacked the required form of identification and documents under Wisconsin’s voter ID law, implemented in 2015 after a series of legal battles. …

Experiences like German’s are why Common Cause Wisconsin, the state’s largest nonpartisan political reform organization, has filed a federal lawsuit against the Wisconsin Elections Commission.

The lawsuit is one of three pending federal challenges to voting ID requirements for Wisconsin college students. The Common Cause suit alleges these requirements violate the Equal Protection Clause ensuring that all people are equally protected under states’ laws. …

Jay Heck, the executive director of Common Cause Wisconsin, argues that Wisconsin’s ID requirements for young people violate their constitutional rights, forcing them to “jump through more hoops unnecessarily” than other citizens.

At UW-Madison, Wisconsin’s largest university, student ID cards known as WisCards are not compliant with state laws for voting. Among the 13 four-year UW System schools, only four use student IDs that are also voter compliant. To comply with the law, UW System campuses offer separate voter IDs to students upon request.

Heck said Republican lawmakers appear to have designed the requirements to discourage students from turning out at the polls.

“Obviously a lot of college students are Republican, but their calculation is that more college students would likely vote for Democrats,” he said, adding the requirement “does give (Republicans) a partisan advantage.”

According to a Stanford University study on strict photo ID laws, the law in North Carolina — which was similar to Wisconsin — was found to have deterrent effects on young people, racial minorities and Democrats, all of whom are less likely to have such photo IDs — even after it was repealed in 2016. …

In addition to the Common Cause lawsuit, two other matters challenging Wisconsin’s requirements for college student voters are pending in federal courts. …

Another challenge, languishing for years in the federal court system, is the 2015 lawsuit filed by plaintiffs including One Wisconsin Institute, which argues the requirement for a separate student ID and issuance and expiration dates do not contribute to any additional protection against fraudulent voting. The organization deems the requirements “irrational and unjustified.”

That suit is still pending in the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. Heck said the Common Cause case is on hold until that case is resolved, and “I frankly don’t anticipate action on it before November.”