'You're a lousy Christian': Gov. Scott Walker fails to placate critics of Wisconsin's voter ID law

Brett T. | 8:51 PM on May 11, 2016

Any election in Wisconsin wouldn’t be complete without a lawsuit or two alleging voter suppression, and today Gov. Scott Walker announced new rules scheduled to go into effect by the end of the week that are intended to address legal complaints about the state’s election process.

Our changes improve photo ID law. Easy to vote but hard to cheat. Photo ID is free upon request for eligible voters. pic.twitter.com/xOkw7f76fo

— Governor Walker (@GovWalker) May 11, 2016

The Associated Press reports that plaintiffs suing the state argue that the steps needed to obtain a free photo ID are so onerous that many applicants simply give up, and that the ID rules as they stand disproportionately “burden minorities and other Democratic-leaning constituencies.”

Gov. Walker approves revision to voter ID process https://t.co/dqlrA9tivb #LegalNews #wisconsin

— WisLawJournal (@WisLawJournal) May 11, 2016

Todd Richmond writes that the emergency rule Walker signed Wednesday allows citizens who cannot present documents to verify their identity, address, and citizenship to petition the Department of Transportation for an exception, and it allows them to present a receipt of their petition at the polls as ID if the matter hasn’t been settled before Election Day.

Richmond adds:

ID card applicants also won’t have to provide a social security number; the DOT must provide a translator for applicants who can’t read or understand notices related to their petition and the DMV must approve name changes if applicants provide affidavits.

Walker isn’t exactly being lauded for taking further steps to ease the voting process.