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Court OKs voter ID in Wisconsin

The State of Wisconsin can enforce a new voter identification law in this November's election, a federal appeals court said Friday.

After hearing arguments on the issue earlier in the day, a three-judge panel of the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals unanimously stayed a district court judge's order blocking enforcement of the new Wisconsin law or any similar measure imposing new voter identification requirements.

"Having read the briefs and heard oral argument, this court now stays the injunction issued by the district court. The State of Wisconsin may, if it wishes (and if it is appropriate under rules of state law), enforce the photo ID requirement in this November’s elections," the appeals court wrote in a order released Friday afternoon (and posted here). "The district court held the state law invalid, and enjoined its implementation, even though it is materially identical to Indiana’s photo ID statute, which the Supreme Court held valid in Crawford v. Marion County Election Board" in 2008, the 7th Circuit added.

The state had asked the appeals court to lift the district judge's order, arguing that it was overbroad. Civil rights groups challenging the measure could ask for relief from the full bench of the 7th Circuit or from the U.S. Supreme Court.

The appeals court said Friday that a Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling in July narrowed the new law in ways that made it less likely to have a negative impact on minorities. "This reduces the likelihood of irreparable injury, and it also changes the balance of equities and thus the propriety of federal injunctive relief," the 7th Circuit wrote.

The move is also a rebuff to the the Obama Administration, which filed an amicus brief in July urging the appeals court to uphold the lower' court's ruling.

Technically, the appeals court panel did not decide the case Friday, but simply stayed the lower court's order pending a full resolution of the appeal.

The appeal was heard by Judges Frank Easterbrook, Diane Sykes, and John Tinder. Easterbrook was appointed by President Ronald Reagan. Sykes and Tinder were appointed by President George W. Bush.