Republicans favoring tougher election laws won big on Monday when the Supreme Court refused to hear a challenge to Wisconsin's voter ID law that requires prospective voters to show photo identification before casting a ballot.
The law won't be enforced for the upcoming April 7 election, but officials said compliance will be required for later ones, reported The New York Times.
"Absentee ballots are already in the hands of voters, therefore, the law cannot be implemented for the April 7 election," Attorney General Brad Schimel said in a statement. "The voter ID law will be in place for future elections - this decision is final."
Being that the Supreme Court temporarily blocked the 2011 law for the November election, its decision to not hear the case this time around was somewhat surprising.
Civil rights groups have long contended the law could disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of residents, especially racial minorities, seniors, students and people with disabilities, who aren't able to obtain proper identification. A federal trial judge who previously blocked the law agreed, saying it would "deter or prevent a substantial number of the 300,000-plus registered voters who lack ID from voting," the Times reported. Some believe the laws intent is to make it more difficult for Democratic-leaning demographics to vote.
The law is one of the strictest in the nation, requiring prospective voters to show a current or recently expired driver's license or equivalent ID for those who don't drive, a military ID, U.S. passport, tribal ID, recent naturalization certificate or certain student IDs, according to the Times.
Wisconsin officials said the law was necessary to fight voter fraud, and even the court's more liberal justices remained silent on its decision not hear the case.
Now, sights are turned to Texas, where a similar statute will soon be heard before a federal appeals court for the 5th Circuit next month, according to USA Today.
Wisconsin is now the eighth state with strict voter ID laws requiring a government-issued ID, the others being Georgia, Kansas, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
