Debate continues in Madison over Wisconsin’s new photo ID law. It takes full effect in February, but some rules are not yet settled. For instance, what identification should college students use?
As WUWM’s Ann-Elise Henzl reports, election officials are floating a new possible solution. Wisconsin’s photo ID law allows college and university students to use their school IDs at the polls — with the exception of technical college IDs. The state presumes those students live nearby.
However, no student IDs in Wisconsin meet the new law’s requirements, according to the Government Accountability Board. Kevin Kennedy directs the non-partisan agency, which oversees elections. “The key elements that I think were missing in most cases were an issuance date, an expiration date that was within two years of that, and the student’s signature. Those were the key issues,” Kennedy says.
The GAB previously recommended bringing college IDs in compliance with the law by placing a sticker on them, with the missing information. But last week, Republicans on the Legislature’s rule-making committee voiced concerns. They said the stickers opened the door to voter fraud, and claimed the board overstepped its authority by approving them.
When Kennedy appeared before the panel again Thursday, he suggested scrapping the idea, and instead allow colleges to issue a special ID for voting. “Developing an ID card that would be provided to voters, to students, who couldn’t get access to another type of identification. In other words, they would have a second ID that conformed to the statues, so it would be limited in its time period, would have the issuance date, the expiration date, the signature, and could be linked up with proof of current enrollment, as well,” Kennedy says.
Full Article: WUWM: News – Voter Photo ID: No Policy Yet on College Students’ Identification.