Supreme Court declines Wisconsin voter ID ruling

WASHINGTON, March 23 (UPI) -- The U.S. Supreme Court decided Monday not to review a challenge to a federal appeals court ruling upholding Wisconsin's strict voter identification law.

The denial of the review of the challenge, could be seen as a victory for Wisconsin Governor and possible presidential aspirant Scott Walker, who endorsed the law. It also could encourage other states to make identification rules for purposes of voting more severe. The Wisconsin law requires one of eight forms of identification, and was hotly debated in the state's 2011 gubernatorial race, which Walker won. It was contended that Wisconsin's black and Hispanic population make up a disproportionate percentage of the 300,000 residents deemed ineligible to vote because of inadequate identification.

The law was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2008 but its implementation was blocked by a Supreme Court ruling prior to the 2014 election.

A similar law in Texas was struck down by a federal judge as intentionally discriminatory, but went into effect before the 2014 election, after it was permitted by an appeals court.