Wisconsin Republicans' Lame-duck Act Against Voting Struck Down by Federal Judge

Federal judge strikes down Republican-enacted voter
restrictions in Wisconsin

Judge: "This is not a close question"

Madison, Wisconsin — A Republican attempt to obstruct voters in Wisconsin metro districts was struck down today in a terse five-page opinion and order.

The case is ONE WISCONSIN INSTITUTE, INC., CITIZEN ACTION OF WISCONSIN EDUCATION FUND, INC., RENEE M. GAGNER, ANITA JOHNSON, CODY R. NELSON, JENNIFER S. TASSE, SCOTT T. TRINDL, MICHAEL R. WILDER, JOHNNY M. RANDLE, DAVID WALKER, DAVID APONTE, and CASSANDRA M. SILAS,Plaintiffs,v.MARK L. THOMSEN, ANN S. JACOBS, BEVERLY R. GILL, JULIE M. GLANCEY, STEVE KING, DON M. MILLS, MICHAEL HAAS, MARK GOTTLIEB, and KRISTINA BOARDMAN, all in their official capacities.

Reports Patrick Marley in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:

U.S. District Judge James Peterson concluded the new limits on early voting are invalid because they so closely mirror ones he struck down as unconstitutional in 2016. His decision also threw out parts of the lame-duck laws affecting IDs and other credentials that can be used for voting. 

"Today’s court ruling is a victory for the citizens of Wisconsin and a rebuke to their defeated former governor and his cronies in the state legislature. Every voter in the state should be asking one question: why are Republicans in the Wisconsin legislature so afraid of the people they claim they want to represent? Though we are heartened by this decision we will continue to fight any further efforts designed to undermine democracy in Wisconsin or any other part of our nation," said former United States Attorney General Eric Holder, with the National Redistricting Foundation, a major voting rights group, (Huffington Post).

Wisconsin Republicans have attacked voting rights the last eight years in a sweeping legislative initiative aimed at voters who tend to vote non-Republican.

In 2018, Republicans lost ground in metro voting districts across the state following a sweeping federal court order against its legislative effort, reported Craig Gilbert in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

Without stopping voters in major population jurisdictions, Republican Party political power in Wisconsin is imperiled.

Concludes U.S. District Judge James Peterson:

Plaintiffs contend that 2017 Wisconsin Act 369, enacted by the Wisconsin legislature in December 2018, violates injunctions issued in this case in 2016. So plaintiffs seek an order enforcing the injunction against three provisions of Act 369:
(1) limits on the time for in-person absentee voting;
(2) restrictions on the use of student identification cards for voting; and
(3) a time  limit  on  the  validity  of temporary  identification  cards issued  under  the  ID  Petition
Process . Dkt. 330. The court will grant plaintiffs’ motion to enforce the injunctions.
This is not  a  close  question:  the  three  challenged  provisions  are  clearly  inconsistent  with
the injunctions that the court  has issued in this case, (p. 1).

Notes Ari Berman in Mother Jones: "This is the second time a federal court has blocked Wisconsin Republicans from cutting early voting in the state."

The 2016 federal litigation is One Wisconsin Institute v. Thomsen, now before a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

With the election of a new pro-voting rights attorney general and governor, Wisconsin is now in a position to take a rare pro-voting rights stance in federal litigation, a change from the last eight years.

The voting rights win was celebrated by litigators and voting rights workers minutes after the decision was released.

BREAKING: Wisconsin federal court stops GOP effort to restrict voting rights. Big win for the @PerkinsCoieLLP political law team on behalf of @onewisconsinnow and @RedistrictFdn. pic.twitter.com/e81IEJGkw9

— Marc E. Elias (@marceelias) January 17, 2019

Federal judge tosses latest GOP attacks on voting in WI! "The Republican attacks on voting rights were unconstitutional when they were passed, they were unconstitutional when the judge struck them down and they are unconstitutional now.” -- One Wis Now Exec Director Scot Ross

— One Wisconsin Now (@onewisconsinnow) January 17, 2019