Constitutional Amendment to Require Voter ID – Column by Rep. Mark Born (R-Beaver Dam)
Wisconsin’s Voter ID law requirement has been widely successful in preserving election integrity and helping to ensure citizens are confident that the ballots cast are legitimate. That’s why our first action as the newly sworn-in 107th Wisconsin State Legislature was to protect these requirements by passing Senate Joint Resolution 2, a constitutional amendment codifying Voter ID requirements in the Wisconsin State Constitution. All proposed constitutional amendments need to be approved by the legislature in two
consecutive legislative sessions. Both houses approved identical joint resolution language last session and we approved it again this session. Now that the resolution has been approved by the Legislature it goes to statewide referenda, giving the people of Wisconsin the ability to weigh-in on this important issue. This Joint Resolution does not make any changes to the current statutory Voter ID law, it simply codifies it in our State Constitution, providing more protection for these vital election security provisions that are widely supported by Wisconsin voters. A recent Marquette Law School poll found that Voter ID is supported by 74% of registered voters in Wisconsin. As a result of our action, the question that will appear on ballots in the upcoming April election is:
“Question 1: 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?”
We cannot be sure what the Wisconsin Supreme Court may rule in the future, leading to a risk that the court may “legislate from the bench” and declare this provision unconstitutional. By placing this language in the Wisconsin State Constitution we, the people of Wisconsin, can mitigate that risk and protect Voter ID as the law of the land.
