Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker said his state’s strict new voter-ID requirement worked “just fine” in the April 5 primary, but thousands of Wisconsinites were unable to cast a ballot because of the new law. One of them was Eddie Lee Holloway Jr.
Holloway, a 58-year-old African-American man, moved from Illinois to Wisconsin in 2008 and voted without problems, until Wisconsin passed its voter-ID law in 2011. “I never miss voting,” he said. He brought his expired Illinois photo ID, birth certificate, and Social Security card to get a photo ID for voting, but the DMV in Milwaukee rejected his application because the name on his birth certificate read “Eddie Junior Holloway,” the result of a clerical error when it was issued.
Holloway, who worked as a cook in Illinois but is now unemployed and disabled, living with his family in Milwaukee, got a ride downtown to the Vital Records System to try to fix his birth certificate. Vital Records said it would cost between $400 and $600, which Holloway could not afford.
He then called the Illinois Vital Records Division, who said he had to personally come to Springfield, the state capitol, to amend his birth certificate. So Holloway bought a $180 round-trip bus ticket and traveled four hours back to his home state. Once in Springfield, the division said it needed a copy of his high-school and vaccination records. Holloway went to his hometown of Decatur to get his school records, paying $20 to his friend for gas money, but after returning to Springfield, Vital Records said it needed his full Social Security statement, which he didn’t have. He also visited the Illinois DMV, but had no luck there either. He left Illinois without getting the documents he needed to vote in Wisconsin.
Back in Milwaukee, Holloway got two copies of his Social Security statement and asked Illinois Vital Records if he could e-mail or fax them over. They said he’d have to appear in person again. But Holloway didn’t have the money to make another trip to Illinois and gave up trying to get a voter ID. He’d spent $200, visited two states, and made seven trips to different public institutions, but still couldn’t vote in Wisconsin.
Two days after Wisconsin’s primary, the ACLU challenged the state’s voter-ID law in court, arguing that those like Holloway who faced great difficulty getting a photo ID should still be able to vote. Yesterday the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, which upheld the voter ID law in 2014, ruled that District Court Judge Lynn Adelman (who initially struck down the law) should reexamine the case to provide relief for voters with an “inability to obtain a qualifying photo ID with reasonable effort.” The ACLU estimates that thousands of Wisconsinites fall into that category.
“The right to vote is personal and is not defeated by the fact that 99% of other people can secure the necessary credentials easily,” wrote Judge Frank Easterbrook. (Three hundred thousand registered voters in Wisconsin lack a government-issued photo ID, and many have faced great difficulty obtaining one, as I’ve documented.)
This is a small but important victory against a bad law. “We continue to believe Wisconsin’s voter-ID law should be overturned entirely, but given the Seventh Circuit’s prior ruling, we’re now trying to mitigate the worst aspects of the law,” says Sean Young of the ACLU. Those like Holloway who’ve had many problems obtaining a photo ID should be able to sign an affidavit confirming their identity and cast a regular ballot, the ACLU believes. Other states with voter-ID laws have adopted similar fallback options, although such “soft” voter-ID laws “still leave an uncertain number of voters disenfranchised,” writes Rick Hasen. “These burdens might be justified if there were evidence that state voter-identification laws solve a serious problem, but there is no such evidence.”
Wisconsin presented no evidence of voter impersonation in court to justify the voter ID law and prominent Republicans like Congressman Glenn Grothman have admitted it will help their party win elections. There’s no good reason why longtime voters like Eddie Lee Holloway Jr. should have such a hard time trying to cast a ballot.
>Wisconsin presented no evidence of voter impersonation in court to justify the voter ID law
What is the point of a law to prohibit something that doesn't occur?
I suppose the key questions are; HOW does a Voter-ID law give Republicans a direct advantage, and why does it seem so difficult for Democrats to properly prepare for it?
>>70918581
>HOW does a Voter-ID law give Republicans a direct advantage,
I prevents people without the means of obtaining ID from voting - i.e. the poor
>and why does it seem so difficult for Democrats to properly prepare for it
How does a political party help individuals like Holloway dealing with this Gilliam-esque bureaucracy?
>>70918710
>prevents people without the means of obtaining ID from voting - i.e. the poor
You can get a state ID card for about 20 bucks here. They're good for ten years or so. The idea that someone is too poor to cough up 20 bucks once a decade is laughable.
The problem is DMV bureaucracy, not voter ID
Even poor shitholes manage to have voter ID laws
>>70916976
>Moved in 2008, Finally decided to vote in 2016 and only had problems then.
Guess what fag there have been multiple elections since the faggot moved, hes retarded and didnt do his paperwork properly.
>>70920728
DAS RAYCISS
>>70920728
It lowers registration rates and turnout as well. It effects elections by 1-2%, and almost always in the favor of republicans. You could just google for studies in it. Whenever there is lower turnout, gop does better.
Of course the dems could bitch way more about not having a national election holiday, and not having voting rights returned for non violent felons or something, and that would have a much bigger impact on turnout
>>70918710
>the poor
Yet we only ever hear about how poor rednecks are the only ones voting republican.
