Walker’s Voter ID Plan Rejected in Wisconsin

Walker’s Voter ID Plan Rejected in Wisconsin

October 24, 2012
By Neal Tepel

Wisconsin Supreme Court’s decision on October 1, 2012 not to take up Wisconsin’s voter ID law was a mayor defeat for Governor Scott Walker and a victory for working people in Wisconsin. Doing the sneaky unethical bidding of Walker, Republican Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen bypassed the Court of Appeals and disregarded the decision of two judges that had decided this law unconstitutional.

Walker’s voter suppression regulation would have stifled the voice of senior citizens, those with low-incomes, minority voters, and students. Clearly the governor’s unfair and unconstitutional voter ID law would have created a hardship for many voters in Wisconsin in the coming Presidential election.

In response to the ruling by the Dane County Circuit Court Judge Juan Colas on October 1, 2012, AFSCME Council 48 Executive Director Rich Abelson stated that “Today, Gov. Scott Walker was rejected by the courts again. Today’s ruling shows that his attempt to steal the rights away from working men and women in Wisconsin was unconstitutional. We have always believed that Governor Walker and the state legislature overstepped their authority by taking away the rights of public employees to collectively bargain.”

“We’ve now had a federal and state judge say this law was unconstitutional and that it violated not only the state constitution but the US Constitution as well. The working men and women from across this state deserve to have their rights, which Scott Walker stole from them, restored and this ruling gave them hope. We believe any ruling that recognizes the right to collectively bargain is proper under the state and federal constitution” added Marty Beil, Executive Director of AFSCME Council 24.

“Governor Walker’s blatant abuse of powers was dealt yet another blow by the courts. The rights of the hard working men and women to collectively bargain and to organize are fundamental. The Dane County Court agreed.” concluded Rick Badger, Executive Director of AFSCME Council 40.