Changes could be coming to some Wisconsin voting laws if a federal judge decides they make it difficult for certain groups of voters to get to the polls.
The bench trial started Monday in U.S. District Court in Madison. Liberal Group One Wisconsin Institute, social justice group Citizen Action of Wisconsin Education Fund, and 10 voters filed a lawsuit last June that claimed Republican-backed voting laws were meant to keep voters who would most likely vote Democrat away from the polls.
"What we're aiming to do is stop what we believe is the real fraud in Wisconsin, elections which are attempts to manipulate the system for partisan political advantage," said Mike Browne, Deputy Director of the group One Wisconsin Institute.
They allege sections of Wisconsin's voter ID requirement, reductions in early voting windows and tougher voter registration standards unconstitutionally burden minorities, young people, the elderly and the poor's voting rights.
"It's voter suppression 101," said Richard Langan of the Democratic Party of Brown County. 'With a Republican-led administration like we have in Wisconsin, they can pass any laws they want and then it takes us 6-12 months to catch up with them through the court system."
In the first day of arguments Monday, Assistant Attorney General Clay Kawski criticized the arguments of the lawsuit, saying they're speculative. He also added that the state has issued 420,000 free IDs since 2011 while only denying 52 people.
The Wisconsin Republican Party also responded to parts of the lawsuit Monday.
"High turnout in the April 5th election shows that voter ID legislation works just fine," said spokesman Pat Garrett. "It makes it easy to vote but hard to cheat."
Arguments could continue for up to two weeks. Because it is a bench trial, there is no jury. The judge will decide the outcome in a few weeks.
