Discussion: Does The Voter ID Law Encourage Or Discourage Voting?

There's no doubt that with the upcoming elections -- no matter how many there are -- they'll be contentious.

But how people vote in these upcoming elections is about to change with the requirement to show a photo ID before a person can receive a ballot, and that is becoming a contentious issue too.

Some are saying the new voter ID law will prevent people from even showing up to the polls, and they say that the law discriminates against people who are poor and homeless. But a poll done by Marquette University indicated that the majority of the registered voters they asked (a sample size of 701 registered voters) said they favored the law.

One of the arguments made against the law has to do with the requirement that after a person proves their identity, they'll also be asked to sign the poll book before they can receive a provisional ballot. Alfonso Gardner, 59, a Racine community advocate, told a reporter at the Journal Times that he's against this policy.

Driving is a privilege, but voting is a right. This is why people distrust government — whether Republican or Democrat. It’s more of a poli-trick than politics.

Lawyers for the League of Women Voters are also challenging Wisconsin's law because they say it disenfranchises voters and creates "a poll tax."

Despite the controversy, officials with the Government Accountability Board are trying to get out the message on how people can obtain an ID by offering to come and speak about the changes, the Department of Motor Vehicles has a website for people to learn about how to get the voter ID law, and the Government Accountability Board has a list of acceptable documents.