The Republican authors of a new voter ID bill that passed the state Assembly, but not the Senate, said Tuesday they plan to reintroduce the legislation after the November elections. Reps. Mark Born, R-Beaver Dam, and Michael Schraa, R-Oshkosh, wrote in a column they believe their bill is constitutional because it’s based on an Indiana law upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. Born and Schraa also responded to a criticism of their bill by state Sen. Joe Leibham, R-Sheboygan, who is running for Congress and authored the state’s current voter ID law that passed in 2011. Leibham said last week, after a federal judge struck down the law, that he believes the current law is constitutional and the new bill would create “such a big loophole in the voter ID requirement” that the system would be “substantially similar to the one we have now.”
“Despite the senator’s claims, our bill is right for Wisconsin,” Born and Schraa wrote. “We will re-introduce it next session because our elections are too important to let a system ripe for fraud to continue any longer.”
In response, Leibham softened his tone, saying the Born/Schraa bill “and other concepts should be explored.”
“Unfortunately, I remain skeptical that any photo ID requirement will be allowed to be implemented under the Obama administration and absent any federal court reform,” Leibham said.
Full Article: Assembly backers of voter ID vow to reintroduce bill next session : Wsj.