Students And Veterans Turned Away From The Polls Under Wisconsin’s New Voter ID Law [View all]

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Students And Veterans Turned Away From The Polls Under Wisconsin’s New Voter ID Law

by Alice Ollstein Feb 17, 2016 4:51 pm


Wisconsin’s local primary election put the state’s new voter ID law to the test Tuesday, causing problems that left officials seriously concerned about how voters will be impacted this November.

The election decided several mayoral contests and helped conservative Justice Rebecca Bradley clear a key hurdle to maintaining her seat on the state’s powerful Supreme Court.

The law will be in place again for the presidential primary on April 5, which is likely to see greater voter turnout. But even in Tuesday’s local election, issues with ID arose.

Though the law’s implementation was mostly smooth, some students and veterans were unable to cast regular ballots, because the state doesn’t recognize a federal veterans’ benefits card or a state university ID for voting purposes.

After few overall complaints came in, Gov. Scott Walker (R) tweeted that all was well in the Badger State.

Yet local media reported that turnout was extremely low — in the single digits in some counties.

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http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2016/02/17/3750519/wisconsin-voter-id-primary/