Wisconsin election officials say they are prepared for the Republican presidential primary on April 3 despite uncertainty over the state’s contested photo identification law.
The Government Accountability Board, which is in charge of elections, is continuing to train inspectors and poll workers on the use of state-issued photo identification, the
Wisconsin State Journal reported.
The law, which had been in effect for Wisconsin’s primary in February, was suspended with separate injunctions from two state judges two weeks later.
The state’s Department of Justice appealed both injunctions and hoped they would be overturned before the primary.
However, Kevin Kennedy, director of the Government Accountability Board, had asked state attorneys to delay appeals.
“We advised the attorney general’s office that it would be better if nothing changed before April 3,” he said. “We don’t want the public in a yo-yo situation.”
Similarly, board spokesman Reid Magney said election officials are operating as though the law remained in effect. It’s easier to poll workers on possible procedures, “as opposed to not covering that and then having to bring them back for additional training,” he said. “We don’t want to be in the position where we’re scrambling to train people.”
The state’s Republican-dominated Legislature approved the voter ID law last spring. Several groups challenged the law, saying it disenfranchised minority groups, the poor, students, and senior citizens because getting valid IDs is difficult for them.
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