Sen. Romaine Quinn: Voter ID Constitutional Amendment Coming To April Ballot

WISCONSIN — On April 1, voters will decide if the state constitution should be amended to require voters to present a photo ID in order to vote in an election.

Here is the exact question as it will appear on the April ballot:

“Photographic identification for voting. Shall section 1m of article III of the constitution be created to require that voters present valid photographic identification verifying their identity in order to vote in any election, subject to exceptions which may be established by law?”

A “Yes” vote will add a voter ID requirement to the Wisconsin Constitution. A “No” vote will not amend the Wisconsin Constitution.

In order to amend the state constitution, a proposal must pass both houses of the legislature in two subsequent sessions and then be approved in a statewide election. Earlier this year, as a member of the State Senate, I voted to include this question on the April ballot so that you and all voters around the state can decide whether to include voter ID in our state constitution.

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I believe that voter ID is incredibly important to election security and showing identification to vote is just plain common sense. Voter ID has been used successfully in Wisconsin elections for ten years and voter participation has only gone up during that time. Enshrining this measure in our state constitution will protect it from interference by a future legislature, governor, or court who may want to weaken voter ID or disregard the current law entirely.

I want every voter in our state to be confident that our elections are secure, fair, and transparent. It’s now up to you – the voters – to choose whether to add this amendment to our state constitution and make clear how you want Wisconsin’s election systems to be run.

For more information about this year’s elections, please visit myvote.wi.gov to check your voter registration status, find your polling place, see what’s on your ballot, or request an absentee ballot.