The Supreme Court on Monday turned down a challenge to Wisconsin’s voter ID law, which it had previously kept from going into effect before November’s elections.
The court’s decision not to review a federal appeals court ruling that upheld the law was a victory for Gov. Scott Walker (R) and perhaps other states that have tightened voting procedures to require additional identification.
More challenges to specific state laws are in the pipeline.
In October, the justices said the Wisconsin law could not take effect before the Nov. 4 midterm elections. At the time, civil rights groups told the court that there was no time to meet the law’s requirements because a lower court had previously suspended the measure.
The Supreme Court has upheld requirements for photo IDs before. But there was a new round of litigation after Republican-led states passed laws that strengthened those requirements.
A federal judge struck down Texas’s statute as intentionally discriminatory. But an appeals court allowed it to go into effect before the 2014 elections, and its merits are still being litigated. It probably will come before the Supreme Court, as well.
Robert Barnes has been a Washington Post reporter and editor since 1987. He has covered the Supreme Court since November 2006.
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