Federal judge rule nixes Wisconsin Voter ID under the basis of discrimination

According to a federal court judge, the voter identification law in the state of Wisconsin violates constitutional rights of minorities in the US to exercise their right to vote. US District Judge Lynn Adelman's ruling reportedly follows a similar one which also threw out the voter ID law in Arkansas last week, Bloomberg said. The state of Wisconsin said it will appeal regarding the decision that strike down the 2011 law, which it said combats voter fraud.

The opponents of the state voter ID law in Wisconsin stated that the statute are thinly-veiled attempts in order to disenfranchise voters who usually vote for Democratic candidates in US elections. Adelman, who presided over the trial that was held in Milwaukee federal court last year for two weeks, said that the measure signed by Republican Governor Scott Walker has made an impact on Latino and black voters. Bloomberg said the judge added that the minority voters are more likely to live in poverty and will have difficulty procuring photo identification.

She said, "(The law) only tenuously serves the state's interest in preventing voter fraud and protecting the integrity of the electoral process. Therefore, the state's interests do not justify the discriminatory result."

The voter ID was inked into law in time for the elections in February 2012. The measure was later blocked by two state judges, and the cases are currently pending before the state Supreme Court, the news agency said.

Adelman's decision over the Wisconsin voter ID law came just five days after a Little Rock, Arkansas judge ruled that the voter ID law had violated requirements as dictated in the US Constitution. At the Milwaukee trial, lawyer John Ulin, who is defending on behalf of the voters, had likened the state law as measures that are used to prohibit blacks from voting before the 1960s, where federal voting rights statuses were nonexistent yet. Ulin reportedly called the voter ID law as an unconstitutional voter suppression measure, and argued that the state law will affect the minority which could easily fill up the 42,000-seat Miller Park.

Tags

Wisconsin voter ID law, US District Judge Lynn Adelman, Republican Governor Scott Walker

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