The Independent View: Supreme Court Rejects Challenge to Wisconsin Photo ID Law

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday turned away a challenge to Wisconsin's voter Photo ID law, after having blocked the state from requiring photo IDs in 2014 November's general election.

The justices' action means the state is free to impose the voter ID requirement in future elections, but Republican Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel said it won't be enforced for an election two weeks from now.

The decision is further evidence that the court put the law on hold last year only because the election was close at hand and absentee ballots already had been mailed with no notification of the need to present photo IDs.

Early in-person absentee voting began on Monday for an April 7 election, similar to last year when the law was blocked, and absentee ballots have already been mailed without notification that photo IDs would be required.

"Absentee ballots are already in the hands of voters, therefore, the law cannot be implemented for the April 7 election," Schimel said in a statement. "The Voter ID law will be in place for future elections - this decision is final."

His decision came less than two hours after the American Civil Liberties Union filed an emergency motion with the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago asking that the law remain blocked through the upcoming election because there isn't enough time to implement it before then.

Having it take effect now "would cause all kind of confusion," said Dale Ho, director of the ACLU's Voting Rights project. Ho did not immediately respond to a message seeking his reaction to Schimel's decision.

Wisconsin was one of four states in which a dispute over voting rules reached the Supreme Court last fall. The other states were North Carolina, Ohio and Texas. Of the four states, only Wisconsin's new rules were blocked.

The law was in effect for the February 2012 primary but subsequent legal challenges put it on hold and it hasn't been in place for any election since.