Wisconsin DOT to Mail IDs Using Overnight Shipping; Will Solve Provisional Ballot Issue

WISCONSIN -- Whether you agree with it or not, don't you just love the complexities of Wisconsin's voter ID law?

The state Department of Transportation announced late Tuesday it will ship voting credentials overnight to people who try to obtain photo identification during election week, which is coming up the first week in November.

If you do not know already, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation offers free IDs for voting, which means state without proper documentation to obtain an ID can petition the DOT for one. Anyone who enters the petition process gets a credential to vote through the mail, which can take days to arrive.

According to a report by NBC 26, State Elections Commission member Ann Jacobs raised questions Tuesday about how people who file a petition on Election Day will get credentials in time to have their votes count.

The need for overnight shipping came into focus when it was noticed by Jacobs that people without credentials could cast provisional ballots but have those ballots invalidated. That's because people must verify their identity within three days of the ballot being cast. Since credentials likely wouldn't arrive until the following week, their ballot would be invalidated.

The Wisconsin DOT announced the overnight shipping Tuesday evening.