Sup. Deanna Alexander
Press Release

County Panel Refuses to Label Community ID Cards

“The authors of the legislation funding the Community ID program with taxpayer dollars have said publicly that the ID cards will not be used for voting.”

By - Nov 4th, 2015 03:20 pm

MILWAUKEE—Despite claims that Milwaukee’s forthcoming Community ID’s are not intended for voting purposes, a County Board committee rejected a request to confirm that intent in writing today.

Last week the committee approved a measure to set aside funding for a Community ID card program, proposed to provide an alternative for residents unable to qualify for a state ID card.

County Supervisor Deanna Alexander asked that any Community ID cards developed that would be ineligible for voting purposes have “NOT FOR VOTING” printed directly on the cards to avoid any potential for confusion.

“We need to be sure that we’re honest with people,” said Supervisor Alexander.

“The authors of the legislation funding the Community ID program with taxpayer dollars have said publicly that the ID cards will not be used for voting.  If this is true, then why are they so adamantly opposed to marking that right there on the cards?” she asked.

“The county has a right and responsibility to ensure that if new ID Cards it develops or funds for the benefit of the general public are not able to be used for something as essential to our way of life as voting, they should be clearly marked,” said Supervisor Alexander.

The committee voted unanimously to move forward on the Community ID project without alerting ID holders whether the card, once developed, could or could not be used for voting.  Supervisors Haas, Mayo, Romo West, Jursik, Weddle, Moore Omokunde, Schmitt and Johnson each voted to reject the amendment.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.

Leave a Reply

You must be an Urban Milwaukee member to leave a comment. Membership, which includes a host of perks, including an ad-free website, tickets to marquee events like Summerfest, the Wisconsin State Fair and the Florentine Opera, a better photo browser and access to members-only, behind-the-scenes tours, starts at $9/month. Learn more.

Join now and cancel anytime.

If you are an existing member, sign-in to leave a comment.

Have questions? Need to report an error? Contact Us