The Constitutional Amendment: Why To Vote No (Even If You Support The Photo ID Requirement)

Dear Editor,

The constitutional question on the April 1 ballot only asks if you support amending the Constitution to include the requirement of a Photo ID when registering to vote. You are NOT being asked if you support the actual requirement. Wisconsin already has a law requiring a Photo ID to vote. It was passed by the Legislature in 2011.

 During its 2013-2014 session the Wisconsin Supreme Court heard two lawsuits challenging the 2011 law. In one case they found the photo ID requirement to be a reasonable regulation of elections. In the other case the Court ruled that the law did not violate the Constitution's restrictions on the types of election laws the legislature may pass. 

Although The photo ID law has been in effect in every election since 2016 and is working the way the legislature intended, they now want to enshrine that law into the Constitution. However, this is a misuse of the Constitution. The framers of our Constitution deliberately included only a few fundamental rules regarding voting, such as who has the right to vote, the right to a secret ballot, when elections should take place, and how election districts should be drawn. They wisely gave the legislature the power to work out the details of conducting elections through laws that reside in the state's statutes not in the Constitution itself. Amending the Constitution is a cumbersome and lengthy process. Laws can be changed by a simple vote of the majority of the legislature. Thus, the legislature is able to more readily change or adjust laws in response to changing times and the will of the people.

Neither the Democratic nor Republican party should be allowed to misuse the constitution for partisan political purposes just because they hold a majority in the legislature. Vote NO on the proposed amendment to defend the Constitution against misuse.

Allen Pincus, Barneveld, WI