Wisconsin Voter ID Oral Arguments Set for Feb. 25 Before State High Court

Scott Walker faces a major legal defeat in the likely decision
against the GOP voter suppression law, Wisconsin Act 23

As a federal judge in Milwaukee is writing an opinion on Wisconsin's restrictive Voter ID law after the federal trial held last November, two state civil rights challenges to Wisconsin's Act 23 are set to be heard be heard in oral arguments before the Wisconsin Supreme Court on February 25.

Arguments as scheduled to be heard in the ornate Supreme Court room in the Madison state capitol at 9:45 A.M.; Court room doors open at 9:00 A.M.

WisconsinEye is tentatively scheduled to live stream the arguments on its website online, and on Charter Cable Channel 995 and Time Warner Channel 363.

Wisconsin's Voter ID law also faced a trial in federal court in November 2013.

In federal court, a post-trial brief requesting a federal injunction was filed in December after the trial of two consolidated cases arguing violations of the U.S. Constitution and the Voting Rights Act.

A federal injunction and decision against the Republican Voter ID law are expected, as the November 2013 federal trial is regarded by objective observers as a rout for pro-democratic forces against the GOP voter suppression law.

Wisconsin's Voter ID law also remains enjoined by Wisconsin state courts. The state cases to be heard are League of Women Voters of Wisconsin v. Walker and Milwaukee Branch of the NAACP v. Walker.

The Wisconsin Constitution in its plain text and as reflected in legal precedents holds a much more powerful guarantee of the right to vote than the U.S. Constitution.

Laws that deny the franchise (right to vote) or make voting so difficult and inconvenient that the laws effectively deny the franchise are presumptively unconstitutional under the Wisconsin Constitution.

The Republican Party in Wisconsin designed Act 23 precisely for the purpose of restricting the right to vote, an anti-democratic political tactic repeated across the country in states where the Republicans control both the governor's office and the legislature.

As daily newspapers across Wisconsin have editorially condemned this practice of Republicans, it is expected the GOP-controlled Wisconsin Supreme Court [4-3] will rule against the Republican-enacted Act 23 with so much light focused on the Voter ID case.

Facing defeat against its Act 23, Wisconsin Republicans are fast-tracking an attack on early voting, hoping that few notice what they are doing in the legislature.