Wisconsin voters on Tuesday approved an amendment to the State Constitution to strengthen a current law requiring photo identification at the polls, The Associated Press said, a victory for Republicans who sponsored the effort.
For close to a decade, state law has required the use of photo ID when voting at the polls in Wisconsin.
But a constitutional amendment was seen as making it far more difficult to roll back the voter ID law, even under a state Supreme Court with a liberal majority or if the State Legislature fell under Democratic control. The measure was brought by Republicans, who control a majority of seats in the State Legislature and had pressed for the amendment for years.
Conservatives have steadily and successfully pushed for stricter voter ID laws across the country, suggesting that they are needed to combat widespread voter fraud. Election experts say that voter fraud in American elections is exceedingly rare.
Democratic leaders opposed the effort for the amendment in Wisconsin, arguing that it would disenfranchise voters including students, older people and particularly Black voters, who studies have shown are less likely to carry photo identification than white voters. While Black voters make up only about 5 percent of Wisconsin’s electorate, they overwhelmingly favor Democratic candidates.
Democrats also questioned why the amendment should be a priority at all, saying that Republicans were neglecting more pressing matters facing the state such as affordable child care, public education and gun control.
Last week, President Trump stepped into the fray on voter ID requirements, issuing an executive order seeking to require documentary proof of citizenship to vote. Democrats responded with a lawsuit on Monday, arguing that the president’s order was unconstitutional and that he has no explicit authority to regulate elections.
Thirty-six states ask for or require voters to show some form of identification at the polls, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, a nonpartisan group.
Polls show that voter ID laws enjoy broad bipartisan support, with a Pew Research survey conducted in January finding that 81 percent of voters agree with a requirement that all voters should show government-issued identification to cast ballots.
Wisconsin voters also strongly support voter ID laws, according to polls in recent years. A 2021 survey by the Marquette University Law School showed that 92 percent of Republicans and 55 percent of Democrats favored requiring photo ID to vote.