Constitutional amendment asked to enshrine WI’s voter ID law into state constitution

In person early voting begins Tuesday, March 18, 2025 ahead of the April 1 election

In-person absentee voting began Tuesday, March 18, 2025, ahead of the April 1 election, which features several statewide races, including for Wisconsin Supreme Court. Wisconsin voters will also be asked whether to enshrine the state’s current voter ID law, which requires a photo identification to vote, into the state constitution. The ballot question asks: QUESTION 1: Photographic identification for voting. Shall section 1m of article III of the constitution be created to require that voters present valid photographic identification verifying their identity in order to vote in any election, subject to exceptions which may be established by law? “I think the majority party is afraid of what happens if we get into the majority and if we decide that existing law needs to be amended, changed or overturned entirely,” State Rep. Lee Snodgrass (D-Appleton) said during a forum in Milwaukee Monday, March 17, 2025. Democrats are advocating a “no” vote, while Republicans are urging Wisconsinites to vote “yes.” “Trying to take this away from the hyper-partisan issues that the court tends to inject into it, the legislature should be the ones making the decisions instead of the courts,” State Rep. Scott Krug (R-Rome) said during the same forum. The issue has become a key part of the Wisconsin Supreme Court race between liberal candidate Susan Crawford and conservative Brad Schimel. Crawford had previously opposed the law and argued against it in court, and Schimel, a former Republican attorney general who fought to keep the law intact, both laid out their positions during their only debate last week on WISN 12. “I just don’t think it’s appropriate for a judge to weigh in and try to influence voters on something like that,” Crawford said. “I’m going to vote yes,” Schimel responded. “Voter integrity laws are critically impotent.”