Same Election: Voter ID Wins Big; GOP Loses Big

Hand sticking ballot in ballot box.
Photo by Getty Images on Unsplash. Unsplash+ License obtained by editor.
Published: 03 Apr, 2025
Updated: 18 Jun, 2025
3 min read

Many have seen the story out of Wisconsin: Susan Crawford defied record-breaking spending by Super PACs to win the April 1 state Supreme Court election. “Crawford beat Musk,” is the headline after the world’s richest man poured millions into the race to defeat her, while liberal billionaires also opened up their own pocketbooks for Crawford.

With both sides of the media focusing on the partisan funding arms race, the constitutional amendment that formally cemented Wisconsin’s voter ID requirements into state constitutional law could prove to be an even more important story.

The Voter ID measure passed with 62% of the vote, while 38% opposed it, according to unofficial results. Decision Desk HQ projected the outcome just 20 minutes after polls closed. In other words, when voters cast their ballots, they didn’t just defy big money, but party narratives as well.

The referendum asked voters:

"Photographic identification for voting. Shall section 1m of article III of the constitution be created to require that voters present valid photographic identification verifying their identity in order to vote in any election, subject to exceptions which may be established by law?" 

The referendum does not create new ID requirements. Wisconsin’s voter ID law has been in effect since 2011. Acceptable forms of identification include a Wisconsin driver’s license or state ID, U.S. passport, military ID, and certain student IDs.

The GOP has long owned the issue of voter ID, arguing that it is important for the security and integrity of elections. Republican lawmakers said they advanced the amendment as a way to safeguard existing law from potential legal challenges. 

Republican State Sen. Van Wanggaard said "this will help maintain integrity in the electoral process, no matter who controls the Legislature."

Democrats, on the other hand, criticized the decision to place the question on the April ballot, alleging that it was designed to boost conservative turnout in the high-profile race for a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

IVP Donate

But regardless of what the parties’ machinations might have been, voters made their own decisions on election day. Democrat Susan Crawford won the state Supreme Court seat with 55% of the vote.

And, voter ID won by an even greater majority.

While the Republican Party and the Democratic Party have tried to control the narrative on this issue, most voters have long supported a requirement to show photo ID when casting a ballot regardless of party support or opposition.

A 2021 Marquette University Law School poll found that 77% of registered Wisconsin voters supported the state’s voter ID law. This included 96% of Republicans, 52% of Democrats, and 81% of independents. 

When explicitly asked about enshrining the law in the constitution, 73% expressed support — 97% of Republicans, 44% of Democrats, and 74% of independents 

This strong cross-partisan support suggests that while Republicans may have hoped the amendment would energize their base and improve their odds in the Supreme Court race, the issue did not polarize voters in a predictable partisan fashion. 

Instead, it attracted backing from a wide swath of the electorate, including many independents and Democrats.

Concerns about election security and integrity cut across party lines and include a majority of independent voters, and the success of the amendment—alongside the election of a liberal Supreme Court justice—underscores a clearly independent-minded electorate.

Let Us Vote : Sign Now!

And for those who think Voter ID is just a tactic for Republicans to boost voter turnout -- they might be right. But Republicans are wrong to think that is necessarily a boost for Republican candidates

Related articles

Crowd cheering
2025 Has Already Been a Monumental Win for Independent Voters
We’re halfway into 2025 and the year has already delivered several wins for independent voters and their right to equal participation in elections following a campaign cycle in which statewide ballot measure losses threatened to slow down the movement....
18 Jun, 2025
-
13 min read
Busy New York city at night.
As Demand for Reform in NYC Grows, Open Primaries Gains Media Attention
As the New York City Charter Revision Commission considers a wide breadth of reforms to city policy, one reform in particular is catching the attention of both voters and the media: Ending the city’s use of closed partisan primaries....
12 Jun, 2025
-
3 min read
An electric sign of the American flag.
ABC's Sara Haines Calls Out 'Narrow View' that Independent Voters Can't Exist in Trump Era
American journalist and co-host of ABC’s The View, Sara Haines, refutes the notion that people can't be independent-minded in their election choices in an era in which the Republican Party is controlled by Trump – a perspective voiced by her colleague, Sunny Houstin that Haines describes as “narrow.”...
06 Jun, 2025
-
3 min read

Latest articles

Tulsi Gabbard
Is Tulsi Gabbard Being Sidelined by Another Party?
Tulsi Gabbard can’t seem to catch a break, no matter which party or administration she joins. First, she was ostracized by the Democratic Party in 2016 when she spoke out against the party’s unfair treatment against Bernie Sanders. At the time, she was a sitting Democratic congresswoman and DNC vice chair....
26 Jun, 2025
-
4 min read
A gas station with cannabis products on the pump with the US Capitol building in the background.
Congress Moves to Ban Unregulated, Intoxicating Hemp Being Sold at Gas Stations Nationwide
In a late-session vote last week, House Republicans advanced a sweeping change to federal hemp policy that could outlaw a wide range of intoxicating hemp products, sometimes referred to as “gas station weed,” as the hemp Farm Bill loopholes become a major policy issue in many states, including California, Tennessee and Texas....
26 Jun, 2025
-
3 min read
NYC open primaries picket.
On Primary Day, NY Orgs Picket on Behalf of 3.5 Million Disenfranchised Voters
Much of the election coverage on Tuesday focused on the New York primaries, especially in NYC and the hotly contested ranked choice election for mayor. What got less attention, however, were the 3.5 million independent voters in the state locked out of elections they paid for....
25 Jun, 2025
-
4 min read