SHARE DMV service centers posted signs on Wednesday telling people they could get IDs for free if they were intended for voting. (Click image to enlarge)

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Madison - A state Department of Transportation official has told employees not to alert people they can get identification cards for free under a new law requiring people to show photo IDs to vote.

"While you should certainly help customers who come in asking for a free ID to check the appropriate box (on a Division of Motor Vehicles form), you should refrain from offering the free version to customers who do not ask for it," says a memo from Steve Krieser, who at the time was the DMV's operations chief for field services.

Lawmakers included the provision for free IDs in the voter ID law to ensure the requirement wasn't considered a poll tax, which would be illegal.

"I find this action unacceptable and paramount to a bait and switch tactic," Sen. Jon Erpenbach (D-Middleton) wrote in a letter Wednesday to Krieser's boss, Transportation Secretary Mark Gottlieb.

"Helping people obtain a free ID card to vote should be no different than any other service the Department of Transportation offers as an agent of the people of this state."

The Capital Times of Madison on Wednesday first reported on Krieser's memo. It was sent to employees on July 1, the day the DMV started issuing free photo IDs. Normally, the IDs cost $28.

Krieser last month was promoted to be executive assistant to Gottlieb, the No. 3 position in the department. He said Wednesday the agency was simply implementing the Legislature's policy as intended.

He said the onus is on customers to get the IDs for free, but they can easily do so by indicating they are seeking them for voting.

"It's not like they have to come in and dance around on their heads in the right way at the right time," Krieser said.

DMV service centers posted signs Wednesday telling people they could get IDs for free if they were intended for voting. The signs had been planned for some time and were not a response to media accounts of the policy, Krieser said.

The DMV's website also includes information about how to obtain IDs for free. The policy of what workers are to tell customers has not changed, Krieser said.

Rep. Jeff Stone (R-Greendale), a lead author of the photo ID law, said he thought the DMV policy was fine.

"This is an attempt to try to make an issue out of nothing," he said. "All they have to do (to get a free ID) is ask for it and it's given to them."

Nearly 59% of the photo IDs issued by the department in July and August were given out for free, department records show. In all, the agency has issued 18,364 photo IDs during that time, just 3.6% more than the 17,728 issued during the same period in 2010.

Those figures cover IDs only and not driver's licenses. Licenses are not available for free.

Lawmakers and Gov. Scott Walker in May approved the photo ID requirement, achieving a goal Republicans in the state have sought for a decade. Supporters said it will help prevent voter fraud, while opponents said it will do nothing to prevent illegal voting but will disenfranchise elderly, minority, rural and student voters.

Under the new law, people would be allowed to vote only after showing Wisconsin driver's licenses; state-issued ID cards; certain, limited college IDs; military IDs; passports; naturalization certificates; or IDs issued by a Wisconsin-based Indian tribe.

The League of Women Voters of Wisconsin is trying to raise $200,000 to sue over the law, arguing it violates a provision of the state constitution that limits what restrictions can be put on voting.

Lester Pines, the attorney for the league, said he was concerned about the DMV policy on not telling voters they could get IDs for free.

"Potentially there is a legal problem in that it shows the state is interested as a matter of policy in charging for these (IDs), and that would be a poll tax," Pines said. "The agency's policy is to put revenue above protecting the right to vote."

The Legislature gave the state Government Accountability Board, which runs state elections, $750,000 to train clerks and educate the public about the photo ID law. An ad campaign will start in January, and a significant part of it will focus on the ability to receive free IDs, said board spokesman Reid Magney.