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You can still vote for free in Wisconsin, if you ask

Under Wisconsin's new law to make voting harder, you have to present a valid photo ID at the polling place.
Steve Krieser
Steve Krieser

Under Wisconsin's new law to make voting harder, you have to present a valid photo ID at the polling place. One acceptable form comes from the Division of Motor Vehicles. The IDs normally cost $28, but you can get one for free -- just don't expect anyone at the DMV to tell you that.

The Madison Capital Times today posts a memo from a Wisconsin Department of Transportation executive directing employees not to offer the ID for free:

While you should certainly help customers who come in asking for a free ID to check the appropriate box, you should refrain from offering the free version to customers who do not ask for it.

Steve Krieser, the memo's author, previously worked as a Republican chief of staff in the state legislature. Mr. Krieser tells the Cap-Times that the DMV plans to post signs telling people how to ask for free IDs. "He says the signs are 'in the design phase' and could not give a date when they would be placed in DMV offices," the Cap-Times reports.

Last month, Governor Scott Walker's administration gave up on a plan to close some DMV locations after lawmakers complained that they were mostly in Democratic districts.