Dane County Clerk Scott McDonell said his office will begin planning immediately to implement Peterson’s order as well as the changes ordered on July 19 by U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman in a separate case over voter ID. Adelman last week said people having trouble getting an ID can sign an affidavit to vote; he declined Friday to put a stay on his order.

Valid credentials

Peterson ordered the state to quickly issue credentials valid for voting to anyone trying to obtain a free photo ID for voting but lack the underlying documents such as birth certificates to obtain one. The state’s current process for getting free IDs to people who lack such documents, Peterson wrote, is unconstitutional and “a wretched failure” because it has left a number of overwhelmingly black and Hispanic citizens unable to obtain IDs.

“The evidence in this case casts doubt on the notion that voter ID laws foster integrity and confidence,” Peterson wrote. “The Wisconsin experience demonstrates that a preoccupation with mostly phantom election fraud leads to real incidents of disenfranchisement, which undermine rather than enhance confidence in elections, particularly in minority communities. To put it bluntly, Wisconsin’s strict version of voter ID law is a worse cure than the disease.”