Patrick Marley

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Madison — Workers at seven Division of Motor Vehicles stations across Wisconsin provided inaccurate or incomplete information about the availability of IDs for voting, newly released recordings show.

“You’re not guaranteed to get an ID card. Nothing’s guaranteed,” a worker at the DMV station in Hudson told a woman on Wednesday.

That conflicts with what Attorney General Brad Schimel’s office has claimed in court documents. His assistants have contended that all DMV workers have been trained to tell people they will get credentials for voting within six days, even if they don’t have birth certificates.

DMV gives wrong information on voter ID

RELATED: Judge orders DMV to investigate voter ID incident

The recordings could further roil litigation over Wisconsin’s voter ID law. On Friday, a federal judge ordered the state DMV to investigate an incident in which three DMV workers gave incorrect information about whether a Madison man could get an ID without a birth certificate.

The recordings were made by the group VoteRiders, which assists voters in getting IDs and describes voter ID laws on its website as “challenging and confusing.”

Molly McGrath, the national campaign coordinator for VoteRiders, provided the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel with unedited recordings of 11 visits to DMV stations, including the one previously released that the judge has ordered to be reviewed.

She said the recordings highlighted the disconnect between what the attorney general is telling the court and what frontline workers are saying to those who face significant challenges acquiring IDs.

“It seems like we’re in two parallel realities,” McGrath said.

DMV spokeswoman Patty Mayers said she could not comment on the latest recordings because no one with the DMV has heard them.

"DMV remains committed to working with all eligible voters to ensure they receive identification for voting free of charge," she said in a written statement.

The new recordings

The 10 new recordings feature a volunteer who asked DMV workers what she would need to do to get an ID for a friend who doesn’t have a birth certificate. In some visits, she also said she did not have a Social Security card.

A DMV worker in Rice Lake told the woman “it’s possible” she could get an ID in time for the Nov. 8 election.

“There’s no guarantees,” the worker said.

In Black River Falls, a worker wrongly told her no temporary voting credential was available.

Asked if she would receive an ID in time for the election, the worker said: “I would hope so, but like I say, she should do it as soon as possible because it’s going to take some time.”

A DMV worker in Neillsville said getting an ID without a birth certificate could take a few weeks — even though voting credentials are supposed to be processed within six days.

At the Amery DMV, a worker told the woman she could get an ID in time for the election, but he couldn’t promise the voter she would have it if she wanted to vote early.

“I would almost guarantee she will have it to vote, but I don’t know if it’s a week, I don’t know if it’s three days, I don’t know if it’s a week and a half,” he said.

In Wisconsin Rapids, a DMV worker incorrectly said temporary credentials were not available and said there was no way to know how long it would take to get an ID without a birth certificate.

He told her there was a process for getting an ID without a birth certificate, but it would be better to try to track down a birth certificate, even if the voter had to incur a cost.

“I believe that this is the easiest for everyone, to see if you can get the actual birth certificate,” he said. “However, that may cost money. Some people get excited about, ‘OK, now they’re charging me to vote.’ And that’s not what it’s about.”

State and federal courts have ruled the DMV cannot require people to pay any government fees — including those for birth certificates — to get IDs for voting. Doing so would amount to charging an unconstitutional poll tax, the courts have said.

In Stevens Point, the DMV worker told the woman to track down a birth certificate from another state without telling her she could get voting credentials if she didn't have a birth certificate.

Employees at three other stations — in Adams, Chippewa Falls and Menomonie — provided mostly correct information, according to the recordings.

For instance, in Adams the worker said a voter without a birth certificate would quickly get credentials that could be used for voting. Like workers at other stations around the state, she had to consult with documents or other workers in her exchange with the VoteRiders volunteer.

“They’re changing things so quick with us it’s hard to keep up,” the worker said.

Susan Crawford, an attorney for the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin, said her group may present the latest recordings in a friend-of-the-court brief. She said the recordings could prompt courts to create a new safety valve for those who can't get IDs, such as by allowing them to sign statements at the polls that would allow them to vote without ID.

She discounted the state's contention that a safety valve is already available because state workers are trained to tell people they can quickly get voting credentials in one trip to the DMV.

"I think the state's credibility on that point is very much in question," Crawford said.

The liberal groups One Wisconsin Now and Citizen Action Education Fund last year sued over the voter ID law, limits on early voting and other election laws.

U.S. District Judge James Peterson in July struck down many of those laws and said the state must reform the way it provides voting credentials to those who don’t have birth certificates or face other obstacles to getting IDs.

In response, the DMV told Peterson last month it had trained its workers so they knew people would quickly get voting credentials no matter what.

Last week, McGrath made public a recording of her Sept. 22 trip to the DMV with Zack Moore, who moved to Madison from Illinois and didn’t know where his birth certificate was. Three DMV workers gave him wrong information about getting an ID.

Judge orders report

After the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and The Nation wrote about the recording, Peterson ordered the DMV to investigate what happened and file a report with him by Friday.

He called for the report because he said it appeared the state was violating his July order to promptly issue voting credentials to those who have trouble getting IDs.

DMV officials have said they started a review even before Peterson issued Friday’s order. Walker, who signed the voter ID law in 2011, said last week he is taking the matter seriously.

Assembly Democrats on Monday asked the DMV to develop a plan to make sure state workers were giving voters the correct information.

“The conduct of your staff is why taxpayers believe government is so inept and dysfunctional," said the letter from Rep. Katrina Shankland (D-Stevens Point) and 27 of her colleagues.

A separate challenge to Wisconsin’s voter ID law is pending with the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago.