Wisconsin voters approve law requiring voter ID

CV NEWS FEED // Wisconsin voters approved a constitutional amendment Tuesday to require photo identification at the polls, formally enshrining the state’s existing voter ID law into the state constitution.

The amendment, introduced Jan. 6, 2025, states: “A qualified elector may not vote in any election unless the elector presents photographic identification issued by this state, by the federal government, by a federally recognized American Indian tribe or band in this state, or by a college or university in this state, that verifies the elector’s identity.” 

President Donald Trump celebrated the result on Truth Social, calling it a “BIG WIN FOR REPUBLICANS,” and targeting Democrats for opposing the amendment. 

“VOTER I.D. JUST APPROVED IN WISCONSIN ELECTION. Democrats fought hard against this, presumably so they can CHEAT. This is a BIG WIN FOR REPUBLICANS, MAYBE THE BIGGEST WIN OF THE NIGHT. IT SHOULD ALLOW US TO WIN WISCONSIN, LIKE I JUST DID IN THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, FOR MANY YEARS TO COME!” he wrote.

Trump, who has long pushed for stronger election security measures, signed an executive order last week aimed at protecting “free and fair elections.” 

“We’re going to fix our elections so that our elections are going to be honorable and honest, and people leave and they know their vote is counted,” Trump said in a White House statement. “And ideally, we go to paper ballots, same-day voting, proof of citizenship, very big, and voter ID, very simple.”

With the amendment’s passage, Wisconsin joins a small group of states–including North Carolina and Mississippi–with strict photo ID requirements, making the law significantly harder to reverse.

Support for voter ID remains high among Americans. A recent Marquette Law School poll found 77% of respondents support photo ID requirements, with only 22% opposed. 

Leading up to the vote, 73% of Wisconsin respondents said they backed the amendment.