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(The Center Square) – Wisconsin’s voter ID law has had no negative impact on voter turnout in the state since it was fully implemented, according to a new report from the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty.
Voter turnout, in fact, has slightly increased since the law went into effect. Wisconsin voters will vote on making voter ID a constitutional amendment April 1.
Democrats in the state have argued the amendment will disenfranchise voters.
The state’s current law, however, has had no negative impact on minority groups voting or Dane and Milwaukee counties.
The report found that socioeconomic factors such as poverty rates and education levels have a larger impact on voter turnout than voter ID laws.
“By analyzing decades of election data both before and after Wisconsin implemented Voter ID, we found a general rise in voter turnout, rather than the widespread disenfranchisement that critics often suggest,” said WILL Research Director Will Flanders. “Any claims suggesting Voter ID is ‘voter suppression’ are merely political scare tactics aimed at undermining faith in Wisconsin’s elections. Furthermore, it’s worth exploring whether Voter ID can actually increase turnout by strengthening confidence in Wisconsin’s election system.”
The research cited several studies that backed its conclusion across the country, with data showing that states with voter ID laws don’t have significantly different turnout than those without the law.
It also cited a Wisconsin study after the 2016 election where 1.7% said they didn’t vote because they didn’t have adequate ID while 1.4% said they were told at the polls that their ID was not adequate.
“It is well known among political scientists that individuals have a tendency to lie to pollsters regarding whether they voted or not,” the report said. “One key explanation for this is what is known as social desirability bias. In general, people do not want to ‘look bad’ to pollsters. As such, they may lie to the pollster about things that are perceived as socially undesirable, such as refraining from voting.”
Instead, WILL’s report looked at aggregate data of turnout change in the state and in key counties such as Dane and Milwaukee.
The study found that voter turnout has increased by 1.5%, on average, in the state since the law was implemented.
“This is an interesting result,” the report said. “While it is likely too large of a leap to say voter ID has increased turnout due to the correlational nature of our analysis, it seems that there is no negative relationship.”
(The Center Square) – Republicans at the Wisconsin Capitol continue to move through their to-do list. The latest was a slate of bills focusing on public safety.
The Assembly on recently approved:
● K9 Riggs Act – Increases penalties for causing injury to law enforcement animals. The bill is named after Kenosha County Sheriff Department K9 Riggs, who was shot by a criminal. Riggs survived and is now in retirement.
● Prosecution Reform – Requires approval from the court before prosecutors can dismiss serious charges.
● Parental Notification – Ensures parents are promptly notified of sexual misconduct in school.
● Criminal Case Database – Creates a new database of crimes in Wisconsin.
● Reckless Driving Crackdown – Allows for the impoundment of vehicles used in reckless driving offenses.
● Parole Revocation – Revokes extended supervision, parole, or probation if a person is charged with a new crime.
● Child Trafficking Penalties – Imposes life imprisonment for the crime of trafficking multiple children and requires restitution be paid to the victims.
● Theft Crimes – Increases the penalties for certain retail theft crimes.
● School Resource Officers – Ensures officers are put back into Milwaukee Schools.
“Cracking down on crime shouldn’t be a partisan issue, but in Madison, it has increasingly become so,” Assembly Majority Leader Tyler August said after Thursday’s votes.
Rep. Amanda Nedweski, R-Pleasant Prairie, authored the K9 Riggs Act, which was named after a Kenoha police dog who was shot and wounded by a suspect back in 2021.
“Riggs’s heroism united the community, galvanizing support for local law enforcement just a year after rioters in Kenosha protested against them,” Nedweski added. “These dogs are not only invaluable members of the department; they are also family to their partners.”
But not every lawmaker was on board with the Republicans' public safety slate.
Milwaukee Rep. Ryan Clancy, D-Milwaukee, called the legislation "misleading and misguided."
“Once again, the Wisconsin legislature was forced to spend our time and resources considering badly written, badly conceived bills that will harm people and waste public resources," Clancy said in a statement. "It’s wildly irresponsible to even consider increasing penalties and interfering with the very few tools of leniency we have with a prison system holding 5,000 more people than intended. But here we are."
The slate of legislation will head to the Senate.
