The Independent View: Federal Court Declines to Take Up Wisconsin’s Voter ID Law

A federal appeals court on Friday decided against hearing arguments on a recently instituted photo identification requirement for the state’s voters. The larger group of Seventh Circuit judges was divided, 5 to 5, effectively ending the possibility of a new hearing before the judges. They offered no reason for their votes, though an order said the judges might file explanations in the coming days.

In an order that evenly split the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit here, the judges turned down pleas for a hearing by the full court from people who argue that the requirement has created confusion and chaos. The decision came about a month before in-person early voting begins and after some in Wisconsin may have mailed in absentee ballots.

The matter could ultimately wind up before the United States Supreme Court, and the Wisconsin case is seen as noteworthy among the numerous legal fights playing out around the country over voting regulations.

Voting officials and clerks in Wisconsin have been racing to prepare voters and poll-watchers for the identification requirement since a three-member panel of the Seventh Circuit court decided on Sept. 12 that the law, delayed for more than two years, could take effect immediately.

Municipal clerks said they were fielding questions from puzzled voters. Various efforts to publicize the new rules, including a website, an online seminar for clerks, and radio and television ads, are underway. And clerks have been advised to contact some absentee voters who already received their ballots in the mail but are now required to provide copies of their identification.

Around the state, voting officials said they were bracing for what was ahead, seeking money from their governing bodies to broadcast advertisements about the new requirement, and quickly trying to train poll workers on the details so that lines are not unmanageable on Election Day.

“We’ll have our folks trained,” said Scott McDonell, the Dane County clerk. “But with the polls showing this election so close and with all the confusion, I’m a little bit more worried about what will happen if we get to a recount and the issue of provisional ballots.”