So, the rule of law is once again surpassed by the rule of men.  Someone used logic and sense and also had a position in which to do it from.  And predictably, MSNBC freaked out.

A three-judge panel of the 7th Circuit issued a ruling upholding the law. It was the same panel of all-Republican appointees that last month removed a district court judge’s injunction on the law, leading voting rights groups to ask the Supreme Court to intervene.

Well, aside from Little Zachary Roth pointing out the party affiliation of the panel (which I guess is important, because only Republicans want to uphold laws I guess) this is one that, if all you did was listen to MSNBC and Air America (Oh, wait…), you would think that some terrible fate had befallen the future of voting rights in America.  Alas, with just a bit of digging, you could find out what really happened and what was really said by the judges.

The 7th Circuit opinion, however, said the Wisconsin law does not pose a more substantial burden on the right to vote than the Indiana law. The appellate decision noted that, between the trial and the appellate arguments, the Wisconsin Supreme Court had directed state officials to issue photo IDs without requiring applicants to pay for any qualifying documents.

“If photo ID is available to people willing to scrounge up a birth certificate and stand in line at the office that issues drivers’ licenses, then all we know from the fact that a particular person lacks a photo ID is that he was unwilling to invest the necessary time,” Easterbrook wrote. For most voters without photo ID, the court said, it’s “a matter of choice rather than a state-created obstacle.”

So the obstacle, according to Judge Easterbrook, is that when it comes to getting some form of photo ID, all you have to do is be motivated enough to get a copy of your birth certificate (for free), and then walk, put together some bus fare or get a ride to the DMV, maybe be required to come up with the meager fee required, and get your picture taken and you could be voting in no time.  So Judge Easterbrook reasoned, if you care enough to do some voting, the obstacle to getting the required ID is the voter, and not the process.

Evil Republicans.  Expecting people to get off their fat rear ends and do the work of getting an ID card in order to participate in the voting process.  How dare they.

Does anyone else find this incredibly racist that the ACLU thinks that only minorities lack the resources to get photo ID?  Because only minorities are poor and disenfranchised right?  I mean, to just assume that only minorities can’t get photo ID to vote infantilizes them and I think treats them like second class citizens.  They can get photo ID like everyone else if they want to vote that damn bad.  And the list of things you need photo ID for is long.  I am partial to number 5, 6, and 7.

The reason this is so hard fought is because if voter fraud can be minimized, there is a particular party that this requirement hurts.  And that means it is hard to put their agenda into the law. It means they would have to work within the rule of law, when they would much prefer the rule of men.

But don’t worry Democrats, you still have a chance.  According to the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board website, this is what you have to do if you vote without photo ID:

If you do not have a photo ID, you are allowed to vote by provisional ballot. You can bring your photo ID to the polling place by 8:00 p.m. You may also present your photo ID to the municipal clerk in person by 4 p.m. the Friday after the Election. If you provide photo ID by the deadline, the ballot will count. If you do not provide photo ID by the deadline, your ballot will not count.

See, it isn’t like you can’t vote, we just want everything on the up and up.  No “hanging chads” or lawyers involved; given how that went last time, and the epic amount of hand wringing that was, we should be able to avoid that.

Good luck to the ACLU at the SCOTUS with proving that minorities are more overburdened than anyone else and aren’t able to get free qualifying documents to get a photo ID card to make their provisional ballot a confirmed ballot in order to count in the election.  I know you filed an immediate injunction, so this party can get started right away.

I can’t wait to see Justice Scalia’s opinion on that one.