The U.S. Supreme Court turned down a challenge to overturn Wisconsin's voter identification law.

While Wisconsin has an election scheduled in April, the state's voter identification law will be implemented on a later date.

The Supreme Court ruled not to review a federal appeals court's decision to uphold the voter photo identification law, which was supported by Republican Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. The Supreme Court had previously issued a stay on the Wisconsin law from affecting last November's midterm elections following requests by civil rights organizations that eligible voters lacked photo identification in time to vote.

In Wisconsin, Latinos are the second-largest and fastest-growing minority demographic in the state. While Latinos represent 6.3 perent of Wisconsin's overall population, most are living in the capital of Milwaukee.

Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel confirmed the photo identification law would not be in effect for the upcoming April 7 elections. He added in a statement, "Absentee ballots are already in the hands of voters, therefore, the law cannot be implemented for the April 7 election. The Voter ID law will be in place for future elections -- this decision is final."

Must Read: Immigration Reform Support Strong Among Christian Evangelicals, New Poll

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed an emergency motion to the federal appeals court to stop the law's immediate implementation. Dale Ho, director of the ACLU's Voting Rights Project, said, "Although the Supreme Court has declined to take this case, it previously made clear that states may not impose new requirements for voting in the weeks before Election Day. The situation is even more compelling here because absentee ballots have already been mailed out for the April election, and early in-person voting has begun. Imposing a new restriction in the midst of an election will disenfranchise voters who have already cast their ballots. It is a recipe for disaster."

The ACLU and its coalition claimed the voter identification law violated the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause and Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

Walker issued a statement reiterating his support of the voter identification law. Walker said, "This is great news for Wisconsin voters. As we've said, this is a common sense reform that protects the integrity of our voting process, making it easy to vote and hard to cheat."

While a special election could occur in the state later this year that would see the voter identification law in effect, Wisconsin's next statewide election is its primary in February 2016.

Must Read: Voto Latino to Help Legal Permanent Residents Understand Naturalization Process, Become US Citizens With New Tech Program

__

For the latest updates, follow Latin Post's Michael Oleaga on Twitter: @EditorMikeO or contact via email: m.oleaga@latinpost.com.

Related