A Wisconsin state official issued a memo earlier this year to Department of Motor Vehicles employees directing that they should not voluntarily inform residents that they can obtain a voter identification card for free, according to The Capital Times, which obtained a copy of the memo.

A state law adopted earlier in the year dictates that residents can obtain a free voter identification card if they check off a box when applying for a photo identification card with the Department of Motor Vehicles. If residents do not check the box, they must pay a $28 fee for the voter card, according to the Times.

The memo issued on July 1 and written by Steve Krieser of the state Department of Transportation reads: "While you should certainly help customers who come in asking for a free ID to check the appropriate box, you should refrain from offering the free version to customers who do not ask for it."

Krieser is executive assistant to DOT Secretary Mark Gottlieb. In an interview with The Capital Times, he said it is the job of the state Government Accountability Board to educate the public about the availability of the free cards.

"If the person initiates that direction, then certainly, we will help them. We will not be coy," Krieser said. "But we are not going to be selling it at the counter as a free ID."

The law requires Wisconsin residents to present identification before they can vote. Proponents said the law was necessary to combat voter fraud, The Capital Times reports. The law, passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature, was the focus of heated debate. Democrats fought against it.