Second Wisconsin Judge Finds Voter ID Law Unconstitutional - Grants Injunction to Block Law

From [HERE] A judge for Wisconsin's Dane County Circuit Court ruled Tuesday that the state's voter identification law is unconstitutional, issuing a permanent injunction against the law's enforcement. Judge David Flanagan is the second Dane County judge to strike down the law, following a similar ruling by Judge Richard Neiss in March. Flanagan had issued a temporary injunction shortly before Neiss' ruling. In his order Tuesday, Flanagan wrote that the law creates "substantial impairment of the right to vote" guaranteed by the state's constitution. The suit, originally filed in December by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was one of several challenges to the law, including a federal lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the ACLU of Wisconsin and the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty .

There are now 30 US states that require voters to present some form of ID at the polls, including 15 states that require photo ID, and the issue remains controversial. Earlier this month Michigan Governor Rick Snyder vetoed several measures that included amendments to the state's election laws. Two of the vetoed bills would have required voters to produce photo identification for absentee voting and to confirm their citizenship before voting and a third would have required voter registration groups to undergo training. In May a coalition of civil rights groups filed a lawsuit challenging Pennsylvania's new voter ID law. In February the Virginia Senate approved a voter ID law . Also in February South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson filed suit against the US Department of Justice over its ruling that barred South Carolina from enforcing its voter ID law. In November Mississippi voters approved a ballot measure to implement a voter ID law. Last year Missouri Governor Jay Nixon vetoed a law requiring persons to present photo ID at voting booth.