Supreme Court blocks Wisconsin voter ID law
By JOSH GERSTEIN | 10/9/14 9:37 PM EDT
Acting on a 6-3 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court has blocked Wisconsin from implementing a new voter ID law in next month's election.
The high court released an order late Thursday that revived a permanent injunction a federal court judge imposed in April, barring enforcement of the 2011 law on the grounds that it discriminated against minorities by forcing many of them to get new identification.
The justices who joined in the order (posted here) did not offer a rationale for their decision, which will remain in effect until the court either rules on the merits of the case or refuses to hear it.
Justice Samuel Alito, writing in dissent for Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, said they had concerns about the legality of the state's procedures for this fall's election. However, Alito said the concerns did not rise to the level that merited overturning a stay the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals entered that would have allowed the voter ID law to take effect.
"There is a colorable basis for the Court’s decision due to the proximity of the upcoming general election. It is particularly troubling that absentee ballots have been sent out without any notation that proof of photo identification must be submitted. But this Court 'may not vacate a stay entered by a court of appeals unless that court "clearly and‘demonstrably" erred in its application of "accepted standards,"'" Alito wrote.
The ruling came just a day after the high court voted, 7-2, to overturn another federal appeals court's ban on North Carolina's effort to end same-day voter registration and out-of-precinct voting.
Attorney General Eric Holder released a statement after the ruling, saying he is pleased the court will not allow the "restrictive voter identification law" to be implemented.
"This Department will never yield in its commitment to protecting that most sacred of Americans' rights - the right to vote," Holder said.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/under-the-radar/2014/10/supreme-court-blocks-wisconsin-voter-id-law-196869.html?hp=l3
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