Assembly Passes Constitutional Amendment Proposal Requiring Photo ID To Vote

The state Assembly approved a bill Tuesday that would put to Wisconsin’s voters a new amendment to the state constitution requiring a photo ID in order to vote.

The legislation, which passed by a 54-45 margin, will put the proposed amendment before the voters during the April 1 election. The measure was supported by the Assembly’s Republican majority and received no votes from Democratic state legislators.

A state law requiring a photo ID was passed in 2011 and is still in effect, but watchers of the state Capitol believe Republicans are pushing to enshrine the requirement into the state constitution to safeguard it from being struck down by the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s liberal majority.

According to state law, any new constitution amendment must pass two consecutive sessions of the state Legislature and win approval in a statewide referendum. The measure first passed the Legislature last year. The GOP majority in the state Senate voted in favor of the measure last week.

According to The Associated Press, Wisconsin is one of nine states that requires voters to present a photo ID to cast a ballot. Citing the National Conference of State Legislatures, the AP reported that 36 states have “laws requiring or requesting that voters show some sort of identification.”