Justice Ann Walsh Bradley’s uncle, Leo Olson of Reedsburg, tried to use his veterans ID card to vote in last week’s primary for a seat on the state Supreme Court, but that form of identification can’t be used under the state’s voter ID law. Credit: Mike De Sisti

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Madison — A state Supreme Court justice on Tuesday urged Gov. Scott Walker to allow people to use veterans ID cards to vote after her uncle who fought at Iwo Jima was unable to cast a ballot in last week's primary election.

"It makes no sense to me that this proud patriot with a veterans card displaying his photo would be turned away from the polls and denied the right to vote," Justice Ann Walsh Bradley wrote to the Republican governor.

In her letter, Bradley said her uncle had fought at Iwo Jima, the bloody World War II battle that was immortalized in a photo of the U.S. flag being raised on the tiny Pacific island.

Tuesday marked the 71st anniversary of the 1945 flag raising.

Bradley's uncle, Leo Olson of Reedsburg, tried to use his veterans ID card to vote in last week's primary for a seat on the state Supreme Court, but that form of identification can't be used under the state's voter ID law.

Olson does not have a driver's license.

That could soon change because of legislation the state Senate is to take up next month. Even if approved, it may not be in place for the April 5 election, when voters will decide the state Supreme Court race and cast ballots in the presidential primaries.

"He considers voting part of his patriotic duty," Bradley wrote to Walker. "Yet, last week this proud patriot of 90 years of age was embarrassed and confused when he went to the polls and was denied his right to vote.

"When he presented his veterans administration card with his picture on it, he was told that the card was not listed as 'acceptable' proof of his identity. He responded: 'You mean veterans can't vote?'"

Walker spokeswoman Laurel Patrick said the governor planned to sign legislation that would allow voters to use veterans ID cards to vote if it gets to him. That is expected to happen next month.

Bradley did not identify her uncle by name in her letter, but his other relatives did in correspondence with the state Government Accountability Board, which runs state elections.

Bradley is not related to Justice Rebecca Bradley, who is on the April 5 ballot for a 10-year term on the high court. She faces Appeals Judge JoAnne Kloppenburg.

Walker and his fellow Republicans in the Legislature approved the voter ID law in 2011, but for years it was blocked by court orders.

State and federal courts in 2014 found the voter ID law to be constitutional, and last week's election was the first statewide contest since then with the measure in place.

Ann Bradley was in the minority in state Supreme Court's decisions upholding the voter ID law. In two cases, she joined a dissent and concluded the law was unconstitutional.

Reid Magney, a spokesman for the Government Accountability Board, said there were relatively few problems running last week's election. He said there was no way to know how many other situations such as Olson's had arisen.

Olson's wife, Elaine, emailed the accountability board to complain about what had happened.

She wrote that her husband uses his veterans ID to fly and he was angry and frustrated that he couldn't use it to vote.

The election came at a difficult time for him because it was near the anniversary when his cousin and best friend died in a foxhole beside him, she wrote.

"The humiliation that this caused him was heartbreaking. Whoever wrote this document needs to amend it to add vets," she wrote.

Kevin Kennedy, the accountability board's director, alerted her that those who are confined because of age, illness or infirmity can vote absentee without having to show an ID. He helped her submit paperwork to get Leo Olson on that list.

The voter ID law also allows people to get free state ID cards for voting from Division of Motor Vehicles offices.

To vote under the voter ID law, people must show Wisconsin driver's licenses, state-issued ID cards, military IDs, passports, tribal IDs, naturalization certificates or limited types of college IDs, provided they also have documentation they are currently enrolled in school.

The state Senate is expected to take up a wide-ranging bill on March 15 that includes a provision that would allow veterans cards to be used for voting.

That legislation would also allow people to go online to register to vote and end the ability of special registration deputies to sign up people to vote on street corners and in other public places.

In his email to Elaine Olson, Kennedy wrote that he did not think the provision on veterans IDs would be in place for the April 5 election.