Republicans in Wisconsin had pledged that no eligible voter would be disenfranchised when they passed a strict voter ID law in 2011. After it was used for the first time last year in a presidential election, a group of AP reporters sought to put that promise to the test.
Weeks of research and source work led them to a retired Milwaukee resident who had voted for years in her neighborhood and brought to the polls her Social Security card, Medicare card and county-issued bus pass with photo ID. It led them to the Navy veteran whose Illinois driver's license was good enough to board a plane, open a checking account and purchase cold medicine. And to the 85-year-old man who had voted in the same small town for years with his wife, who had recently given up driving – and her license. And to the recent college graduate who went to the polls on Election Day and brought with her three forms of identification – her student ID, copies of her lease and utility bill, and her ID from her home state of Ohio.
In the end, all were turned away or had to cast provisional ballots that were never counted.
For exposing the practical effects of the ID law on Wisconsin citizens, the team of Cassidy (state government team), Moreno (Milwaukee correspondent) and Antlfinger (Milwaukee video journalist) wins this week's Best of the States award.
Catelin Tindall holds, on April 28, 2017, her expired student ID from the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design at Cannon Park outside the building where she tried to vote during the November 2016 presidential election. Tindall had to cast a provisional ballot because she didn't have a Wisconsin ID. She later received an acceptable ID, but work prevented her presenting it at the county clerk’s office so her vote would count.
AP PHOTO / CARRIE ANTLFINGER
Gladys Harris interviewed on video in Milwaukee: "I felt like my vote would have counted. I vote every year, every election – I never miss any. They could have looked that yup and still allowed me to vote."
AP PHOTO FROM VIDEO / CARRIE ANTLFINGER
Gov. Scott Walker, R-Wis., left, walks offstage after introducing Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during a campaign rally at the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire, Nov. 1, 2016. Walker was a major supporter of Wisconsin's strict voter ID law. “We can be more than capable of making sure that people all across the state have access to voter identification,” said Walker.
AP PHOTO / EVAN VUCCI
Democratic Senate candidate Russ Feingold speaks at an early voting rally in Madison, Wis., July 25, 2016. Feingold, a former senator, called voter ID laws “scams” from Republicans who know “the Democratic Party has the numbers to decisively win every presidential election and a majority of Senate seats.” Feingold was defeated in 2016 and launched LegitAction, a nonprofit that advocates for voting rights and abolishing the Electoral College.
AP PHOTO / SCOTT BAUER
Overall turnout in Wisconsin was far lower than during the last presidential election in 2012, including 41,000 fewer ballots cast in the Democratic stronghold of Milwaukee. No one can say with certainty whether the newly enacted voter ID law was the reason for the low turnout or whether it played a role in tipping the election to Donald Trump, who won Wisconsin by just 22,000 votes. Yet the would-be Wisconsin voters felt they should have been allowed to vote or had their ballot counted: Said Sean Reynolds, the Navy veteran: "Coming home and being denied the right to vote because I didn't have a specific driver's license is very frustrating."
Republicans defend the law, including a state lawmaker who told AP it’s common sense that voters should have to show certain ID.
Republicans continue to defend the law, including a state lawmaker who went on camera with Antlfinger and said it’s common sense that voters should have to show a certain type of ID. Wisconsin is among more than a dozen states that have passed strict ID laws since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a key provision of the Voting Rights Act. Democrats and voting rights activists have said those laws target minorities, the poor and the elderly, suppressing their turnout. People like Gladys Harris, the Milwaukee retiree. She told AP she believes the law was tailored to keep people like her from voting: “It was unfair, and I think it was cruel," she said. The story won front-page play in several Wisconsin newspapers, ran online in the state’s largest paper and received more than 3,500 screen views.
For questioning the promises of Wisconsin’s Republican lawmakers and finding real people to illustrate the effects of the state’s voter ID law, Cassidy, Moreno and Antlfinger win this week’s $300 Best of the States prize.