Just 121 days before Election Day, three republican-appointed federal judges decided a three-year-old Wisconsin voting rights case yesterday, issuing a mixed decision that limited some voting practices while loosening Voter ID requirements.
The decision, by two Reagan-appointed judges and one judge nominated by George W. Bush, limited the length of the early voting period throughout the state, which some local jurisdictions allowed for up to four weeks before election day. The judges limited in-person early voting to just two weeks.
Voters must also provide proof that they’ve lived in the state for 28 days prior to the election to be eligible to cast a ballot. People who move within Wisconsin in the four weeks before the election must vote using an absentee ballot linked to their old address.
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the ruling makes it easier for college students to vote, allowing them to use expired college-issued IDs as their photo IDs, required by the state. It also found that the state could not demand records identifying the nationalities of dormitory residents.
– Original reporting by Jackinec
