Voting-rights activists, anti-fraud crusaders clash over ID laws as election looms

Wisconsin’s strict voter laws, including voter ID, can remain in effect this November, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday, delivering a victory to anti-fraud activists who have watched as the courts have chipped away at measures designed to tighten the rules on who can vote and when.

Across the country in Texas, meanwhile, a federal court issued a final order laying out restrictions on that state’s voter-ID law, including allowing those who swear they have a good reason for lacking identification to vote anyway, as long as they can show a utility bill or some other proof they are who they say they are.

Those are just two of the ongoing battles pitting voting-rights activists against anti-fraud crusaders, with voters waiting and watching. Other court fights are still raging in North Carolina, Kansas and North Dakota.

“Millions of people are affected by these laws,” said Wendy R. Weiser, director of the democracy project at the Brennan Center for Justice.

Courts in Texas, North Carolina, Wisconsin, North Dakota and Kansas have ruled against identity requirements, in many cases finding that the state legislatures that pursued the restrictions did so specifically to discriminate.

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