Dane County Circuit Judge David Flanagan issued an injunction today temporarily barring the implementation of Wisconsin's new Voter ID law. The injunction means the new rules will not be in effect for the April 3rd presidential primary and local elections.
The ruling (pdf) indicates that the judge relied heavily on testimony from UW professor Kenneth Mayer, a respected expert on election laws who is firmly non-partisan. Mayer estimated that at least 220,000 otherwise eligible Wisconsin voters lack an approved form of identification stipulated by the law.
The injunction is the result of a lawsuit brought the NAACP's Milwaukee chapter and Voces de la Frontera, an immigrant rights organization. The trial seeking a permanent injunction against the law begins April 16th.
More as I read the injunction...
UPDATE:
The first thing that struck me about the ruling was the reminder that in order to receive a temporary injunction, the parties must be able to show that they are likely to win the permanent injunction. The temporary injunction is proof that the judge expects the plaintiffs to prevail.
Defendants apparently cited cases where the court deferred to the legislature on other electoral issues like polling times and ballot design, but the judge indicates that those questions were unlike the fundamental and sacred question of voter access.
The judge's section headings in the order are definitive:
2011 Wisconsin Act 23 imposes a substantial burden on constitutionally qualified voters.
There is no evidence of voter fraud that would have been prevented by Act 23*.
The Act 23 photo identification requirement is a notably inflexible process.
...voters who do not possess a drivers license are disproportionately elderly, indigent, or members of a racial minority
*My personal favorite.
The judge also explains why Indiana's court-approved voter id law is not comparable to Wisconsin's much stricter law.
There are three other lawsuits in federal and state courts seeking to overturn the law. Maybe we'll take it down with one shot.