Wisconsin’s April 1 election includes a high-stakes Supreme Court race and plenty of local offices, but a statewide referendum question on Wisconsin’s voter ID law at the bottom of the ballot has received far less attention.
For nearly a decade, Wisconsin has required voters to show photo identification at the polls or to vote absentee. The referendum isn’t asking whether to get rid of or keep that law. It’ll remain in place regardless of the referendum results.
Instead, the question is whether Wisconsin should essentially make the voter ID law permanent by putting it in the state constitution. That would make it harder for a court to strike down the law or lawmakers to repeal it in the future.
Studies and polls have found some voters are unsure whether the law is in effect in Wisconsin, or what types of ID are valid.
“There’s still a little uncertainty about that, and so to be voting on it (in April) could be additionally confusing to voters,” University of Wisconsin-Madison political science professor Barry Burden said.
The vast majority of states require voters to show identification, but only a few lay it out in their state constitution. It’s a popular policy in Wisconsin and nationwide — polls show up to 80% of voters support it. Wisconsin’s version of the law is among the strictest in the country.
Here’s a guide to understanding the referendum, arguments for and against voter ID, why Republicans scheduled the question for the April election and what types of ID are acceptable in Wisconsin:
What is the voter ID referendum question in the Wisconsin election?
The following question will appear at the bottom of your ballot:
“Photographic identification for voting. Shall section 1m of article III of the constitution be created to require that voters present valid photographic identification verifying their identity in order to vote in any election, subject to exceptions which may be established by law?”
If a majority of voters choose “yes,” the voter ID requirement will be added to the state constitution. If most voters choose “no,” nothing would be added to the constitution, but the law itself would remain in effect.
You can preview your ballot by visiting “What’s on My Ballot” at myvote.wi.gov.
More: What to know about referendums in Wisconsin, and why citizens can’t petition for them
Why do Republicans want to elevate voter ID to the Wisconsin constitution?
The referendum question got on the ballot after it was passed twice, along party lines, by the state Legislature. The Republicans, who hold both the Senate and Assembly majority, choose which election to schedule the referendum, and Democratic Gov. Tony Evers can’t veto it.
Republicans, including Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, favor enshrining the law in the constitution to protect it from being overturned by the state Supreme Court. With one court seat open, the April election also will determine whether the court remains under liberal control or switches to conservative control.
“I cannot say for certain how the Wisconsin Supreme Court would rule on voter ID laws, but I’m also not willing to risk the Wisconsin Supreme Court declaring voter ID laws unconstitutional,” Sen. Van Wanggaard, a Republican from Racine, said at a previous hearing for the measure.
The Supreme Court currently doesn’t have a case about voter ID, but it has ruled on election policies like absentee ballot drop boxes. Republicans have criticized liberal candidate and Dane County Judge Susan Crawford for representing the League of Women Voters in challenging the law when she was a private attorney.
Crawford has said she would look at the parties involved and the legal arguments they’re making when deciding whether to recuse from a hypothetical voter ID case before the Supreme Court.
More: Bice: Supreme Court candidate Susan Crawford is mum on voter ID. That wasn’t always the case.
Wisconsin’s voter ID law was signed by Republican Gov. Scott Walker in 2011 but didn’t go into effect until 2016 due to lengthy legal challenges.
A new lawsuit “would have to be a different kind of argument,” Burden said. “It would have to be something that judges have not already dealt with.”
Rep. Pat Snyder, a Republican from Weston and a lead author of the constitutional amendment, noted that Republicans first passed it in late 2023 without knowing a justice would announce her retirement five months later, setting up the court race.
April 1 is the last regular election of the year in Wisconsin. There’s no November election.
“We’d have to wait a whole year before another opportunity to be able to put it to the voters for their final say on the matter,” Snyder said.
Would the Wisconsin voter ID law go away if the referendum fails?
No. Even if voters reject the referendum April 1, the law will remain in effect. That could be a source of confusion for voters, Burden said.
Raising the law to the constitution would also make it difficult for Democrats to get rid of voter ID if they eventually gain a majority. They’d have to go through the amendment process again to take it back out of the constitution — passing the change two sessions in a row, then putting it to voters.
Do Wisconsin voters support the voter ID law?
Polling shows the majority of voters like the law. In a Marquette University Law School poll from late February, 77% of registered voters in Wisconsin supported voter ID. That included 96% of Republicans, 52% of Democrats and 81% of independents.
In the same poll, 73% of the 864 voters surveyed said they favor adding voter ID to the constitution, so it’s likely the referendum will pass April 1. That breaks down to 97% of Republicans, 44% of Democrats and 74% of independents.
More: Robin Vos says voter ID law is supported by 70 to 80 percent of the public. Is that true?
Burden said voter ID is a “long-simmering issue” in Wisconsin and voters likely already have strong opinions about it. That often wasn’t the case for referendums in 2024, which asked more obscure questions like who should control federal funds in Wisconsin.
What are the arguments for voter ID?
Supporters of voter ID point to its popularity among voters and argue it increases confidence in elections. Asking a voter to prove their identity, especially before receiving a mail-in ballot, confirms they are who they say they are, Snyder said.
“Voters have to feel like their votes are counting and that everything’s above-board or else we’ll go crazy, like we did in 2020,” he said. “I want to stay away from that.”
Supporters say showing photo identification is required in everyday situations, like checking into a hotel or buying alcohol. They also argue it’s easy to obtain a free state ID card through the DMV that qualifies for voting.
Snyder pushed back on the idea that voter ID suppresses the vote, because “voter turnout has been really high” in recent elections. Wisconsin had one of its highest turnouts in the 2024 presidential election.
More: Audit concludes all votes cast in Wisconsin’s 2024 presidential election were counted accurately
What are the arguments against voter ID in Wisconsin?
Opponents argue voter ID is a solution in search of a problem. Voting fraud is extremely rare in Wisconsin, and legitimate cases reported by the Wisconsin Elections Commission in 2022 and 2023 didn’t include any voter impersonation. The most common violation was voting both in-person and absentee in the same election.
“Presenting an ID is only a measure that would enhance integrity if there were a lot of impersonation of voters going around, which there’s not,” said Debra Cronmiller, executive director of the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin. The league joined a letter signed by about 20 liberal-leaning groups urging a “no” vote.
Researchers disagree over the extent to which ID laws disenfranchise voters, Burden said. Overall, studies show voter ID is not the main factor driving turnout and it’s easy for most people to present ID. But there are “pockets of the population that are really affected by the law,” he added.
For example, Cronmiller said several DMV locations in Wisconsin present accessibility concerns for voters with disabilities. Others may find it costly to get a copy of their birth certificate, or it may not exist in the first place. College voters from out of state might not have a driver’s license from Wisconsin, and some campus IDs aren’t accepted.
A study of the 2016 election by former UW-Madison political science professor Ken Mayer found the law disproportionately affected Black and low-income voters. The study indicated voters lacked good information about the law and some mistakenly believed their ID wasn’t valid.
More: Wisconsin voter ID law still causing confusion, stifles turnout in Milwaukee, voting advocates say
What photo ID can I use to vote in Wisconsin?
These IDs are valid for voting, according to the Wisconsin Elections Commission. The card doesn’t need to have your current address, though you do need a document with your up-to-date address when registering to vote:
-
Wisconsin driver’s license or instructional permit
-
State ID card issued by the DMV
-
Military or veteran’s ID card
-
Certificate of naturalization
The upcoming federal deadline to get a Real ID to fly doesn’t affect voter ID. Voters won’t need to have a driver’s license with the star in the top right corner.
Some absentee voters don’t have to show ID, including those who are in the military, live permanently overseas or reside in a nursing home. There’s also an exception for voters who have a sincere religious belief against being photographed, who can obtain a state ID card without a photo.
If a voter shows up to the polls without an acceptable photo ID, they can still cast a provisional ballot. Their ballot will be counted if the voter provides identification to their clerk by 4 p.m. on the Friday after Election Day.
If approved by voters April 1, the amendment would still allow legislators to make tweaks to the law, including acceptable forms of ID, rules for provisional ballots and any additional exceptions.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin election includes voter ID referendum: What to know about it
