Frank v. Walker, Case Nos. 11–CV–01128
| Decision Date | 29 April 2014 |
| Docket Number | Case Nos. 11–CV–01128,12–CV–00185. |
| Citation | 17 F.Supp.3d 837 |
| Parties | Ruthelle FRANK, et al., on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, Plaintiffs, v. Scott WALKER, in his official capacity as Governor of the State of Wisconsin, et al., Defendants. League of United Latin American Citizens (Lulac) of Wisconsin, et al., Plaintiffs, v. Judge David G. Deininger, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Wisconsin |
Craig G. Falls, Dechert LLP, Washington, DC, Jeremy N. Rosen, Washington, DC, Karyn L. Rotker, Laurence J. Dupuis, American Civil Liberties Union of WI Foundation Inc., Milwaukee, WI, M. Laughlin McDonald, American Civil Liberties Union Foundation Inc., Atlanta, GA, Angela M. Liu, Dechert LLP, Chicago, IL, Dale E. Ho, Neil A. Steiner, Diane N. Princ, Dechert LLP, Sean J. Young, American Civil Liberties Union Foundation Inc., New York, NY, for Plaintiffs.
Maria S. Lazar, Wisconsin Department of Justice, Madison, WI, Clayton P. Kawski, United States Department of Justice, Madison, WI, for Defendants.
DECISION AND ORDER
In May 2011, the Wisconsin Legislature passed 2011 Wisconsin Act 23 (“Act 23”), which requires Wisconsin residents to present a document including photo identification (“photo ID”) in order to vote. 2011 Wis. Sess. Laws 104 ().1 The plaintiffs in the two cases captioned above claim the law violates the Fourteenth Amendment and/or Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, 42 U.S.C. § 1973.
In the Frank case, individuals who are eligible to vote in Wisconsin contend that Act 23 violates both the Fourteenth Amendment and Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. In the LULAC case, four organizations argue that Act 23 violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. With the agreement of the parties, I handled the cases together without formally consolidating them and, in November 2013, conducted a two week trial to the court. In this decision, which constitutes my findings and conclusions under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 52, I address the major issues presented. In an effort to make the opinion as readable as possible, I have placed several relatively technical discussions of expert testimony in appendices rather than in the text.
Before proceeding, I note that I am only addressing two of the plaintiffs' claims—the Frank plaintiffs' claim that Act 23 places an unjustified burden on the right to vote and the claim of both the Frank and LULAC plaintiffs that Act 23 violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. I do not address the Frank plaintiffs' remaining claims, which are all constitutional claims. My reason for not addressing the remaining claims is based on the “longstanding principle of judicial restraint” under which courts are to “avoid reaching constitutional questions in advance of the necessity of deciding them.” Camreta v. Greene, ––– U.S. ––––, 131 S.Ct. 2020, 2031, 179 L.Ed.2d 1118 (2011) (internal quotation marks omitted). As explained below, all of the plaintiffs are entitled to permanent injunctive relief against enforcement of the photo ID requirement on the ground that the requirement violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. This makes consideration of any of the Frank plaintiffs' constitutional claims unnecessary. Still, I believe it is wise to consider the constitutional claim of whether Act 23 places an unjustified burden on the right to vote. As my analysis below will demonstrate, the Section 2 statutory claim and the unjustified-burden constitutional claim overlap substantially, in that many factual findings are relevant to both claims. Indeed, the Section 2 analysis is largely identical to the unjustified-burden analysis, except that the Section 2 analysis involves the additional question of whether Act 23 has a disproportionate impact on Blacks and Latinos and produces a “discriminatory result.”2 Thus, it would likely not be a wise use of judicial resources to address the Section 2 claim but leave the unjustified-burden claim unresolved. Addressing only the former claim could result in an appeal and then a remand to this court for consideration of the constitutional claim, and then a second appeal involving only the constitutional claim. Of course, by not addressing all constitutional claims, I am leaving the door open to successive appeals. But unlike the unjustified-burden constitutional claim, the remaining constitutional claims do not overlap substantially with the Section 2 claim and could more easily be addressed in separate proceedings.
My analysis proceeds as follows. First, I give an overview of the relevant provisions of Act 23. Second, I address the Frank plaintiffs' claim that Act 23 violates the Fourteenth Amendment because it imposes substantial burdens on the many eligible voters who do not currently possess photo IDs, and because such burdens are not justified by the state interests that Act 23 purports to serve. Third, I address the plaintiffs' claim that Act 23 violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act because it has a disproportionate impact on the voting rights of Blacks and Latinos. Finally, I briefly address some remaining procedural matters, namely, the Frank plaintiffs' motion for class certification and the defendants' motion to dismiss the claims of certain Frank plaintiffs.
Under Act 23, in order to vote, a person must present one of nine forms of photo ID to prove his or her identity.3 An acceptable photo ID includes one of the following that is unexpired or that expired after the most recent general election:4 (1) a Wisconsin driver's license, (2) a Wisconsin state ID card, (3) an ID card issued by a United States uniformed service, or (4) a United States passport. Wis. Stat. § 5.02(6m)(a). A person may also present: (5) a naturalization certificate issued within the last two years, (6) an unexpired receipt issued when a person applies for a Wisconsin driver's license, which is valid for 60 days as a temporary license, (7) an unexpired receipt issued when a person applies for a state ID card, which is valid for 60 days as a temporary ID card, (8) an unexpired ID card issued by a federally recognized Indian tribe in Wisconsin or (9) an unexpired ID card issued by an accredited Wisconsin university or college that contains the date of issuance, the person's signature and an expiration date no later than two years from the date of issuance. Wis. Stat. § 5.02(6m)(b)–(f). If a person presents a student ID, the person must also produce a document showing that he or she is currently enrolled. Wis. Stat. § 5.02(6m)(f).
Act 23 does not allow an individual to use a Veteran's ID Card, the photo ID that the United States Department of Veterans' Affairs issues when veterans leave the military. Trial Transcript (“Tr.”) 871. An individual also cannot use an ID from one of Wisconsin's 16 two-year technical colleges. The Wisconsin Government Accountability Board (“GAB”), a non-partisan board consisting of six retired judges which administers Wisconsin elections, found that technical college IDs which met the requirements set out for student IDs were acceptable, but a legislative committee required the GAB to promulgate an administrative rule on the matter. The GAB did so, but both the legislative committee and the Governor must approve the rule and neither has done so. Tr. 879–80, 883.
When voting in-person, an individual must state his or her name and address and produce one of the accepted forms of photo ID. The clerk or poll worker will then check the poll list to determine if there is a registered voter with matching information and inspect the ID to see if the name on it conforms to the name on the poll list and the photograph reasonably resembles the individual. Wis. Stat. § 6.79(2)(a). If these requirements are met, the individual will be allowed to sign the poll book and receive a ballot. If an individual does not have a qualifying ID, he or she may cast a provisional ballot. However, such ballot will be counted only if the individual appears at the municipal clerk's office with an acceptable ID by 4:00 p.m. on the Friday after the election. Wis. Stat. §§ 6.79(3)(b), 6.97(3)(b). Individuals requesting absentee ballots must also present photo IDs. Wis. Stat. §§ 6.86(1)(ar), 6.87(1). A requester must mail in a photocopy of an acceptable photo ID with his or her request. Wis. Stat. § 6.87(1).
The statute provides limited exceptions. The photo ID requirement does not apply to: (1) absentee voters who have previously supplied acceptable photo IDs and whose names and addresses have not changed, Wis. Stat. § 6.87(4)(b) 3, (2) absentee voters who are in the military or overseas, Wis. Stat. § 6.87(1), (3) voters who have confidential listings as a result of domestic abuse, sexual assault or stalking, Wis. Stat. § 6.79(6), (4) voters who have surrendered their driver's licenses due to a citation or notice of intent to revoke or suspend the license who present a copy of the citation or notice, Wis. Stat. § 6.79(7), and (5) absentee voters who are elderly, infirm or disabled and indefinitely confined to their homes or certain care facilities, Wis. Stat. §§ 6.86(2), 6.875. Additionally, an individual with a religious objection to being photographed can apply for a Wisconsin state ID card that does not include a photo. Wis. Stat. § 343.50(4g).
Individuals who lack a qualifying photo ID can apply for a Wisconsin state ID card at the Wisconsin Department of Motor Vehicles (“DMV”). The cost for such a card is normally $18.00, but Act 23 requires the DMV to waive the fee if the applicant is a citizen who will be at least 18 on the date of the next election, and the applicant asks that the card be issued without charge for voting purposes. Wis. Stat. § 343.50(5)(a)3. To obtain a state ID card, a person must obtain certain primary identification documents and appear at a DMV service center to...
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Frank v. Walker
...17 F.Supp.3d 837Ruthelle FRANK, et al., on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, Plaintiffs,v.Scott WALKER, in his official capacity as Governor of the State of Wisconsin, et al., Defendants.League of United Latin American Citizens (Lulac) of Wisconsin, et al., Plaintiffs,......