Voters will be required to show a photo ID at the polls under a bill approved by an Assembly committee Tuesday despite concerns from Democrats and the nonpartisan board that monitors Wisconsin elections that the measure was moving too quickly. To address concerns that the measure was too restrictive, Republicans on the Assembly?s election and campaign reform committee voted Tuesday to expand the list of acceptable identification to include student IDs from public and private colleges and universities. But even that proved to be problematic. As the bill currently stands, student IDs would have to include a current address, birthdate, signature and expiration date. No college or university ID used in the state, including at the 42,000-student University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, meets that criteria. Further complicating things for the Madison campus, student ID cards there are used to gain entry to residence halls and other buildings. Because of the security risk raised by placing a student?s address on the card that also works as a building key, UW-Madison opposes it, said Don Nelson, director of state relations for the campus.
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