• District judge issues ruling against 2006 voter-approved ban • Milwaukee and Madison prepare for possible marriage flood

This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

A federal judge has struck down Wisconsin's ban on same-sex marriage, ruling it unconstitutional.

US district judge Barbara Crabb issued the ruling on Friday, though it wasn't clear whether same-sex marriages could immediately begin.

The ruling makes Wisconsin the 27th state where same-sex couples can marry under law or where a judge has ruled they ought to be allowed to wed.

Clerks in the state's two largest cities of Milwaukee and Madison had been preparing for such a ruling by bringing in extra staff to handle an expected flood of marriage-license applicants.

The lawsuit was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of eight same-sex couples.

Republican Governor Scott Walker, a potential presidential candidate in 2016, has been a strong proponent of the constitutional same-sex marriage ban that was approved by state voters in 2006.

