In both of today’s Wisconsin Supreme Court voter id cases (the NAACP case and the LWV case), the court majority includes an identical footnote to rebut the argument that there’s no good evidence of in person, impersonation voter fraud to support the state’s voter id requirement. (Justice Crooks’ dissent in the NAACP case describes the lack of good evidence of impersonation voter fraud, and the testimony of Professor Kenneth Mayer in some detail).  Here is the footnote, in full:

A recent filing in Milwaukee County demonstrates that voter fraud is a concern. See State v. Monroe, 2014CF2625 (June 20, 2014), wherein the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s office filed a criminal complaint against Robert Monroe that alleged 13 counts of voter fraud, including multiple voting in elections and providing false information to election officials in order to vote.

My irony meter started blinking uncontrollably when I read this.  The Monroe allegations were recently described by TPM in Scott Walker Supporter Charged With Major Voter Fraud Claims Amnesia:

In an indictment filed in Milwaukee County court on Friday, Robert Monroe, 50, of Shorewood, Wis., was charged with 13 felony counts of election fraud, each of which could carry up to three and a half years in prison, or a $10,000 fine, upon conviction. Monroe is accused of registering to vote in more than one place, voting where he didn’t live, voting more than once in the same election, and providing false information to election officials.

The indictment said that Monroe, a health insurance executive, “became especially focused upon political issues and causes” in 2011 and 2012, and was particularly invested in the recall elections that followed the state’s fight over public employees’ collective bargaining rights. Monroe allegedly cast at least two ballots in three elections (an April 2011 Supreme Court election, an August 2011 state Senate recall election, and the 2012 presidential election) and cast five ballots in the state’s June 2012 gubernatorial recall.

From TPM’s description of the indictment, it does not appear that ANY of the alleged 13 counts of voter fraud that Mr. Monroe was charged with would have been stopped by a voter id requirement. And note that all of them were caught without a voter id requirement. And note that despite the fact that the most rabid conservatives calling for voter id claim (as Roger Clegg did at a recent event I did with him at the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics) that when voter fraud occurs it is usually done to help Democrats, this only case cited by the Wisconsin Supreme Court majority involves a rabid conservative supporter of Scott Walker.

UPDATE: A reader points out “The only possible prevention would — maybe — have been the absentee voting in his son’s name.  Under Act 23, you do have to enclose a photocopy of an ID with a mailed absentee ballot  in most cases  (either when you request it or return it).  But he could have easily gotten around it by just making such a copy when it was convenient for him.  If you ask for regular absentee ballots, you need to include a copy of the ID when you first apply, but do not have to do so after that initial application (unless you reregister). Registering in multiple locations — not prevented, since any photo ID you present  when registering doesn’t have to have an address on it; you can satisfy that requirement with other documents.  Voting [in Wisconsin] and in Indiana — not prevented, since he apparently had an Indiana drivers license.”

Another reader pointed out that the Monroe prosecution is happening after the lower court ruling, and was not in evidence before the lower court. I believe it has become increasingly common for appellate courts to cite matters not in the record which the judges or their clerks find from a little googling.