A federal judge late Thursday blocked a portion of his own ruling on the state’s voter ID law, suspending for now a requirement that the state reform the way it deals with people who have the most difficulty getting photo identification. The ruling by Judge James Peterson in Madison is modest and leaves in place the rest of his ruling, which struck down limits on early voting, a requirement that municipalities allow early voting in only one location and other election laws. It’s the second ruling this week affecting the state’s voter ID law leading up to the Nov. 8 presidential election. On Wednesday, the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals halted a ruling by a different judge, Lynn Adelman in Milwaukee, that would have allowed people to vote without an ID if they signed a statement at the polls saying they could not easily get one. Both decisions remain under appeal, and further changes to such laws could occur between now and the election.
Peterson last month struck down a swath of voting regulations approved by Republicans in the last five years, finding they were designed to give the party an advantage. Among the provisions he found unconstitutional was one dealing with how voters get IDs if they don’t have birth certificates or have problems with documentation that keep them from getting IDs.
The administration of GOP Gov. Scott Walker created a system to provide people with temporary voting credentials while they wait to find out if they qualify for an ID.
Peterson last month found that process does not provide a long-term solution for voters who have birth certificates that were destroyed in fires or lost by bureaucrats. But in his ruling Thursday, he said the system set up by the administration would allow people to vote in this election and thus does not need to be immediately reformed.
Full Article: Judge blocks portion of voter ID.