Wisconsin Votes to Enshrine Voter Photo ID Law in State Constitution

Voter ID is already required by law in Wisconsin, but adding it to the state constitution makes it harder to change in future.

A polling place during the Wisconsin Supreme Court elections in Green Bay, Wis., on April 1, 2025. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

Wisconsin voters approved a ballot measure on April 1 that enshrines in the state Constitution the requirement for photo identification in order to cast a ballot.

Approximately 63 percent of voters supported the ballot measure, while about 37 percent voted against it, according to an unofficial tally by The Associated Press.

State Sen. Van Wanggaard, who co-authored the amendment, said the voter photo ID requirement will now become “the law of the land no matter the political whims of the Supreme Court or Legislature.”

“I want to thank the voters for overwhelmingly putting Voter ID into the constitution,” he stated on social media platform X. “Every elected Democrat and Susan Crawford oppose it.”

Judge Crawford is the Democrat-backed candidate who won the Wisconsin Supreme Court race on April 1, defeating Brad Schimel, a former attorney general who had President Donald Trump’s endorsement.

The requirement for voters to show valid photo identification before casting a ballot is already mandated by state law; it was passed in 2011 and went into effect in 2016. Adding it to the state Constitution will make it more difficult for the Legislature or courts to change it in the future.

Trump celebrated the measure’s approval on his social media platform, Truth Social, on April 1, calling it a “big win for Republicans,” as he noted that Democrats had pushed back against it.

“It should allow us to win Wisconsin, like I just did in the presidential election, for many years to come!” Trump wrote in a post in caps.

Trump narrowly lost Wisconsin to Joe Biden in the 2020 general election but defeated then-Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election to claim its 10 electoral votes.

The voter ID amendment cleared its last hurdle on Jan. 14 when the Republican-controlled state Assembly voted to place the proposal on the statewide election ballot.

Opponents had argued that voter ID laws disenfranchise the elderly, people with disabilities, and minorities, who may have difficulties obtaining an active form of photo ID.

All Voting is Local, a voting rights nonprofit, said that enshrining the laws in the state Constitution will cause many voters to be excluded from the ballot box in future elections.

Sam Liebert, the organization’s state director, said that the voter ID requirement affected turnout among seniors, people of color, people with disabilities, and those from low-income households when it took effect in 2016.

“We should not be purposefully leaving eligible voters behind by setting up additional barriers to the ballot, but unfortunately, those in the Badger State have one more step to take before voting,” he said in a statement.

The organization was one of the 23 signees of a letter issued on March 5 that urged Wisconsinites to reject the proposed amendment that the nonprofit said could risk “creating more barriers” for voters.

State Republicans have defended the voter ID requirement. Rep. David Murphy said in January that a liberal-dominated state Supreme Court “can find creative ways to overturn statutes as unconstitutional” and that voters choosing to enshrine the law in the state Constitution will protect it from potential legal challenges in the future.

Republican state Rep. Amanda Nedweski said that if voter photo ID was designed to suppress voting, it isn’t working, as voter turnout in the 2024 general election was the highest in Wisconsin history.

State Rep. Joel Kitchens, a Republican, told the Assembly in January that “voter ID keeps both sides honest.”

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 36 states require voters to present some form of identification at the polls, while 14 states and the District of Columbia do not require any documentation of identity to vote.

As of April 2024, 21 states require photo identification to vote, while 15 states accept other kinds of identification.

Steven Kovac and The Associated Press contributed to this report.