Voter ID law[edit]
Main article: 2011 Wisconsin Act 23
On May 25, 2011, Walker signed a voter ID law that required voters to show a government-issued ID before casting a ballot.[148]
The ACLU filed a lawsuit in federal court to invalidate the law on December 13, 2011, claiming the law violates the constitutional guarantee of equal protection under the law.[149] On April 29, 2014, U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman struck down the law, saying it violated the Voting Rights Act and U.S. Constitution.[150]
The Wisconsin Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the voter ID law under the Constitution of Wisconsin in two other cases in July 2014.[151] On September 12, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals allowed the law to be put into effect just 54 days before the 2014 elections, overturning a previous ruling in federal court.[152]
On October 9, 2014, the state was again barred from implementing the voter ID law for 2014 by the U.S. Supreme Court.[153][154] On March 23, 2015, the Supreme Court denied writ of certiorari, thus ruling in favor of the state of Wisconsin's new stricter voter ID law.[155]
Redistricting[edit]
In Wisconsin, responsibility for redrawing legislative and congressional district lines rests with the legislature. The legislature is required to redraw legislative and congressional districts every 10 years based upon the results of the decennial federal census[252]. The redistricting legislation after the 2010 Census was signed by Walker in August 2011 in a private ceremony to which no Democrats or news agencies were invited[253]. As an outcome of legal action by Wisconsin Democrats, a panel of Federal judges found in 2016 that the Wisconsin Legislature’s 2011 redrawing of State Assembly districts to favor Republicans was an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander[254]. Walker has appeared on Fox News to defend the 2011 redistricting, but even that conservative-leaning forum has criticized his efforts[255]
