Judge eliminates Wisconsin early voting limits approved by GOP lawmakers during lame-duck session
MADISON - Moving swiftly, a federal judge on Thursday struck down limits on early voting that Republican lawmakers approved last month in a lame-duck session.
In a five-page ruling, U.S. District Judge James Peterson concluded the new limits on early voting are invalid because they so closely mirror ones he struck down as unconstitutional in 2016. His decision also threw out parts of the lame-duck laws affecting IDs and other credentials that can be used for voting.
"This is not a close question: the three challenged provisions are clearly inconsistent with the (2016) injunctions that the court has issued in this case," Peterson wrote.
Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke said he had not yet studied the ruling and did not know what steps GOP lawmakers might consider.
Peterson in 2016 invalidated similar restrictions on early voting that Republicans had put in place. That ruling came as part of a sweeping order that struck down other Wisconsin voting laws and forced changes in how the state accommodates people who have difficulty getting IDs for voting.
That lawsuit was brought by two liberal groups — One Wisconsin Institute and Citizen Action of Wisconsin Education Fund.
In December, GOP lawmakers approved similar limits on early voting in lame-duck legislation that also curbed the powers of the governor and attorney general. The move came just weeks after Democrats won all statewide offices but before the new officials were seated.
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The groups that sued over the voting laws returned to court soon after the lame-duck laws were passed and asked Peterson to deem parts of them invalid. Peterson, who was appointed by Democratic President Barack Obama, agreed to that with his ruling Thursday.
Scot Ross, One Wisconsin's executive director, praised the ruling.
“The Republican attacks on voting rights were unconstitutional when they were passed, they were unconstitutional when the judge struck them down and they are unconstitutional now," Ross said in a statement.
His ruling means local officials will be able to have as much early voting as they want. There are local primaries in February and a statewide election for a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court in April.
Peterson also ruled that temporary voting credentials will be valid for 180 days instead of 60 days, as Republican lawmakers wanted. The credentials are given to people who have difficulty getting state ID cards because they lack birth certificates or other documents.
Peterson's ruling also requires the state to allow students to use expired college IDs to vote. Republican lawmakers wanted college IDs to be accepted only if they had not expired.
The underlying case is on appeal with no clear sign of when a decision might come. Judges on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments two years ago over Peterson's 2016 ruling but have yet to make a ruling.
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Before he became attorney general last week, Democrat Josh Kaul represented One Wisconsin and Citizen Action in the case as a private attorney.
As attorney general, he has been walled off from the case and Department of Justice attorneys have been told not to talk to him about it, according to Kaul spokeswoman Gillian Drummond. The top official overseeing the case is Deputy Attorney General Eric Wilson, she said.