PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Maria Castrejon-Perez October 2, 2014 (414)828-3059 LULAC OF WISCONSIN, ADVANCEMENT PROJECT, ACLU OF WISCONSIN PETITION THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT ON WI. VOTER ID! MILWAUKEE, WI – Today LULAC of Wisconsin with co-plaintiffs represented by Advancement Project and co-counsel Arnold & Porter, LLP in LULAC v. Deininger as well as the ACLU of Wisconsin representing Ruthelle Frank in Frank v. Walker submitted a petition to the United States Supreme Court requesting the court lift the “stay” placed by the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals on an injunction put on ACT 23 in Federal District Court. The stay of injunction allows for the State of Wisconsin to implement ACT 23 which requires only certain forms of photo identification for voters to be able to vote and which will result in locking out eligible voters from the polls for no other reason than the ACT itself. The court has acknowledged the law has a disproportionate impact on minority voters. LULAC of Wisconsin State Director Dr. Arturo Martinez stated “Today, LULAC of Wisconsin announces that with our partners, we have submitted a petition to the United State Supreme Court, asking they lift the stay issued by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals upon the injunction previously put in place by the Federal District Court on Act 23. This stay will allow the state to move forward with the photo ID requirement, disenfranchising hundreds of thousands of voters, with a disproportionate impact of minority communities, in violation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. LULAC of Wisconsin is committed to ensuring every voter has the opportunity to vote at the polls. It is simply not possible for the state to educate the entire electorate, train election officials and more, when we are just weeks away from the election.” Darryl Morin, LULAC National VP-Midwest added “The courts themselves have acknowledged that there are over 300,000 registered voters without the required form of ID. If the state issued 6,000 photo identification cards every day, including weekends since the stay was lifted, they still would not have been able to provide photo id’s to all registered voters, much less all eligible voters. In the words of Justices of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, Justices appointed by both Republican and Democrat Presidents, “This stay will substantially injure numerous registered voters in Wisconsin, and the public at large, with no appreciable benefit to the state” (LULAC v. Deininger, 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, OPINIONS ISSUED SEPTEMBER 30, 2014). LULAC of Wisconsin, with the support of its membership nationwide looks forward to a positive response from the Court. About LULAC: The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is the nation’s largest and oldest membership based organization with over 1,000 councils and 135,000 members in the United States and Puerto Rico. The Mission of the League of United Latin American Citizens is to advance the economic condition, educational attainment, political influence, housing, health and civil rights of the Hispanic population of the United States. For more information visit LULAC-Wisconsin.org or call 414-421-4380. About Advancement Project: Advancement Project is a multi-racial civil rights organization. Founded by a team of veteran civil rights lawyers in 1999, Advancement Project was created to develop and inspire community-based solutions based on the same high quality legal analysis and public education campaigns that produced the landmark civil rights victories of earlier eras. About Arnold & Porter, LLP.: With roots in the days of the New Deal and an outstanding record of commitment, excellence, and innovation, Arnold & Porter LLP stands today as a preeminent international law firm. Arnold & Porter attorneys, practicing in more than 30 distinct areas of the law, conduct business worldwide. Our global reach, experience, and deep knowledge allow us to work across geographic, cultural, technological, and ideological borders, serving clients whose business needs require US, EU, or cross-border regulatory, litigation, and transactional services. About ACLU of Wisconsin: Since 1920, the ACLU has been the nations guardian of liberty, working daily in courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties that the Constitution and laws of the United States guarantee everyone in this country. The ACLU is best known for litigation efforts as the country’s largest public interest law organization; many of the ACLU’s ground-breaking cases have changed lives and made history. ###
Posted on: Thu, 02 Oct 2014 16:55:00 +0000
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