The Sconi

If Gov. Tony Evers signs Senate Bill 204, absentee voters would be required to have identification to use their ballots, which would help to ensure less voter fraud.

According to the MacIver Institute, SB 204 would require absentee voters to provide photo identification before being sent an absentee ballot. The bill also makes it a felony for voters to use “indefinitely confined” as a voter status, which would bypass voter ID mandates and orders that election facilities provide hourly updates regarding how many absentee ballots have been received on election night.

“The goal is to make sure at the end of the day that every single person has a chance to vote, but that we guarantee the confidence in the election, which has been severely undermined by the actions of a few over the course of the last election cycle (and which) hopefully are a thing of the past,” Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said.

Evers previously stated that he might veto this bill, despite the fact that Wisconsin requires ID for in-person voting.

“Democrats have claimed that voter ID laws discriminate against black voters and other minorities, but voters reject that claim by a nearly 2-to-1 margin. Sixty percent say laws requiring photo identification at the polls don’t discriminate, while 31% say voter ID laws do discriminate. Ten percent said they are not sure,” Rasmussen Reports stated. 

In the state of Wisconsin, there have been 41 suspected cases of voter fraud from Aug. 22, 2020 to May 19, the Wisconsin Elections Commission stated. 

"These bills make it harder for voters who already face significant challenges to have their voices heard and their votes count," said a statement from Beth Swedeen, the executive director of the Wisconsin Board for People with Developmental Disabilities.

According to a Franklin & Marshall College poll, a good majority of voters want there to be both signature and photo ID matching requirements. 

Seventy-five percent of voters also believe that it should be a requirement to show your ID prior to voting.

Only 21% are opposed to the requirement to show photo ID.