Researcher Tells Court Voter ID Laws Are A ‘Hindrance’ To Elections Process

Testimony continued Tuesday in the federal trial on Wisconsin’s voter ID law, with an elections researcher outlining the effects that he sees the legislation having on access to the polls.

The case is examining whether the state’s photo ID requirements — and more than a dozen other election-related laws — place a disproportionate burden on certain voters, including young people and minorities.

Barry Burden, director of the Elections Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told the court that that disproportionate burden does exist.

“By reducing the options for absentee voting, asking new things of (voters) in terms of registration and then asking for a voter identification card at the polling place, those voters have more difficulty navigating those new hindrances,” Burden said.

State officials are arguing high turnout in last month’s presidential primary is proof that voter ID isn’t keeping people from the polls. Wisconsin’s voter ID law has already been upheld in state and federal courts.