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Wisconsin voter ID law challenge set to go to trial
Source: Reuters
Wisconsin voter ID law challenge set to go to trial
By Brendan O'Brien
MILWAUKEE | Mon Nov 4, 2013 6:07am EST
(Reuters) - A federal trial to determine whether Wisconsin's controversial voter identification law discriminates against minorities is scheduled to begin on Monday in a case seen as a possible precedent for similar laws in other states.
Voter ID laws - which require government-issued identification before voting - have become a political and racial flashpoint across the United States. Democrats generally oppose the measures and many Republicans back them.
The trial in Milwaukee combines two federal lawsuits filed on behalf of dozens of individual voters by several organizations including the League of United Latin American Citizens, Milwaukee Area Labor Council and the American Civil Liberties Union.
"As the leading democracy of the world, the U.S. should work to keep our voting system free, fair, and accessible to all Americans," said Penda Hair, a director at the Advancement Project, an organization that helped bring the suits to be heard by the federal court. "Yet we are witnessing the greatest assault on voting rights in decades."
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By Brendan O'Brien
MILWAUKEE | Mon Nov 4, 2013 6:07am EST
(Reuters) - A federal trial to determine whether Wisconsin's controversial voter identification law discriminates against minorities is scheduled to begin on Monday in a case seen as a possible precedent for similar laws in other states.
Voter ID laws - which require government-issued identification before voting - have become a political and racial flashpoint across the United States. Democrats generally oppose the measures and many Republicans back them.
The trial in Milwaukee combines two federal lawsuits filed on behalf of dozens of individual voters by several organizations including the League of United Latin American Citizens, Milwaukee Area Labor Council and the American Civil Liberties Union.
"As the leading democracy of the world, the U.S. should work to keep our voting system free, fair, and accessible to all Americans," said Penda Hair, a director at the Advancement Project, an organization that helped bring the suits to be heard by the federal court. "Yet we are witnessing the greatest assault on voting rights in decades."
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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/04/us-usa-voterid-wisconsin-idUSBRE9A30CB20131104
