The American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit in Wisconsin today challenging the constitutionality of Wisconsin's new voter ID law overseen by Governor Scott Walker.
Wisconsin’s voter ID law imposes the equivalent of a poll tax on individuals with out-of-state drivers licenses and discriminates against the poor, students and the elderly, according to a federal lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on Tuesday.
ACLU lawyers argue in a 54-page lawsuit that the law “imposes a severe and undue burden on the fundamental right to vote under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution; violates the Twenty-Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution as an unconstitutional poll tax; and violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment in arbitrarily refusing to accept certain identification documents.”
The law, which is a poll tax by another name, requires that voters obtain a state-issued voter ID or a state issued drivers license. Drivers licences cost money, and while the state-issued voter IDs are intended to be free, state employees have been instructed to only provide a free ID if the applicant specifically asks for a free ID. Efforts have been made to educate the public that they can request a free ID, but you can't reach everyone.
The requirements for obtaining a voter ID, which among other things, require proof of an active bank account if you do not already have a state issued drivers license, are also strenuous.
Public backlash to Scott Walker's legislative agenda was likely predicted, and the Republican-controlled state legislature has been taking every step it can to suppress voters.
They will tell you the voter ID law was implemented to prevent voter fraud, but it's fairly obvious the biggest fraud in Wisconsin is Scott Walker and his loyal henchmen.