Plaintiffs’ Expert Report Finds Statistical Disparities in Voter ID Availability for Minorities in Wisconsin

Among the key findings (according to an email on the case) in the expert report [updated link] of Matt Barreto and Gabriel Sanchez in Frank v. Walker, the ACLU’s federal challenge to voter id in Wisconsin:

1.      Eligible Latino and African-American voters in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin disproportionately lack a form of photo ID they can use to vote under Act 23.  14.9 percent of eligible Latino voters and 13.2 percent of eligible African-American voters lack an accepted form of photo ID, compared to only 7.3 percent of eligible white voters.

2.      Eligible African-American and Latino voters are, respectively, 182 percent and 206 percent more likely to lack accepted photo ID than their white counterparts.

3.      The race disparities hold for the subgroup of registered voters.  While 6.0 percent of registered white voters do not possess an accepted photo ID they can use to vote, 15.3 percent of registered African-American voters and 11.3 percent of registered Latino voters do not possess the same. That is a nearly 10 percentage point disparity between registered white and registered African-American voters in Milwaukee County.

4.      Eligible Latino voters are statistically more likely to lack any documentary proof of citizenship, when compared to eligible white voters, and are therefore less likely to be able to obtain an original Wisconsin state ID card or driver’s license they can use to vote.  18.9 percent of eligible Latino voters lack documentary proof of citizenship, compared to 11.2 percent of eligible white voters.

5.      Finally, as compared to eligible white voters, eligible African-American and Latino voters are statistically less likely to both lack an accepted photo ID and lack the underlying documents needed to obtain an original Wisconsin state ID card or driver’s license. Overall, 2.4 percent of eligible white voters lack both an accepted photo ID and the underlying documents needed to obtain a Wisconsin state ID card or driver’s license, compared to 4.5 percent of eligible African-American voters and 5.9 percent of eligible Latino voters.

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