Judge delays voter ID lawsuit

MADISON -- A lawsuit that could stop the new Voter ID Law is moving forward in court. A Madison judge has agreed to hear a challenge from the League of Women Voters, but the judge also agreed to hear challenges from the state, which argues the League of Women Voters does not have a case.

It's a lawsuit that threatens to push back, or eliminate Wisconsin's new Voter ID Law. The League of Women Voters is suing the state of Wisconsin, hoping that a judge rules the law unconstitutional. The Department of Justice, meanwhile, wants the lawsuit to be thrown out.

This lawsuit is the first of many expected in Wisconsin courts that will put the new controversial law to the test. "We have asked for a temporary injunction so that there will be an opportunity for a hearing and a trial to demonstrate we have already seen voter disenfranchisement in the process," Christine Neumann-Ortiz with Voces de la Frontera, a Latino advocacy group said. Neumann says Voces de la Frontera has filed its own lawsuit for new rules they say keep people out of the voting booths.

Chris Kliesmet with Citizens for Responsible Government believes the courts will uphold the law. He says the law is similar to other states who have voter ID, and multiple legal challenges in the Wisconsin court system will all get the same result. ""If someone steals my vote, now I am disenfranchised. The majority of people in Wisconsin support photo ID. Doing something over and over again and expecting a different result is Einstein's definition of insanity," Kliesmet said.

In court, the judge decided he will hear from both sides again in March. That is past the February primary elections, which means the Voter ID Law will be in place for those elections. However, a separate lawsuit filed by the Voces de la Frontera and the NAACP in front of a different judge is scheduled for next week that will ask the court to halt the new law.