Voter ID rules for students upheld
State’s requirements reasonable, judge finds
MADISON – A federal judge on Thursday upheld the way Wisconsin’s decade-old voter ID law treats college students.
It’s the latest case to keep in place the voter ID law, which has faced a slew of litigation over the years.
In 2019, the liberal group Common Cause Wisconsin filed a lawsuit arguing the law treats students unfairly because college IDs must have elements that other types of IDs don’t have to have.
Specifically, the college IDs can be used for voting only if the IDs expire within two years of being issued and include a signature. IDs from five of the state’s institutions of higher learning don’t meet those criteria, according to the lawsuit.
On Thursday, U.S. District Judge James Peterson threw out the lawsuit, ruling that it was reasonable for the state to spell out what must be included on college IDs.
“It would be rational for the legislature to conclude that making student IDs more uniform enhances their reliability, makes them more difficult to falsify, and makes it easier for poll workers to recognize a valid student ID,” Peterson wrote.
Peterson, who was nominated to the bench by President Barack Obama, has ruled against the voter ID law in the past. In a separate case in 2016, he struck down limits on early voting and parts of the state’s voter ID law.
Much of that decision was reversed in 2020 by an appeals court and returned to him for further consideration. He continues to weigh aspects of that case, such as how the state ensures voters can get IDs if they don’t have birth certificates or other credentials.