“With just a few important documents, I got a free state photo ID,” says the anonymous student on the homepage of bringit.wisconsin.gov, the state’s website for information on the new voter ID law.

And so begins the next great experiment in democracy.

Less than 40 days from a pivotal election, Wisconsinites will finally know if a law determined to stop the state’s fraudulent voting epidemic (zero instances of known voter impersonation in recent history, according to U.S. District Court Judge Lynn Adelman) will curb the behavior.

“I got a free state voter ID card at my division of motor vehicles (DMV),” says anonymous face No. 2, with a knowing smile on his face.

Oh yes, the DMV. Who better to charge with the task of doling out the estimated 300,000 photo IDs needed to cover registered voters in the next 40 days than the one true model of government efficiency?

Critics of the voter ID law claim that many in the state will lack proper access to DMV service centers between now and Nov. 4. A “friend of the court” brief filed by the One Wisconsin Institute on Sep. 22 reads in part that “each and every hour the DMVs are in operation is essential to limit the number Wisconsin citizens who will be disenfranchised.”

But are DMVs really up to the task?

Take the DMV Service Center in Luck, a rural town in the northwest part of the state. It is open the third Wednesday of every month from 9:30 a.m.- 3 p.m. Really, the third Wednesday of every month?  Between now and election day this particular DMV location will be open a total of five and a half hours. But wait, it gets better …

“We do our best to keep the DMV hours and days of operation up to date. These can change frequently. We suggest confirming with your local office before your visit.”

I couldn’t possibly make this stuff up. In the midst of voter suppression efforts in the 1960s implicitly meant to disenfranchise people of color, President Lyndon Johnson famously said, “A man without a vote is a man without protection.” We as a society need to ask ourselves what it is we are trying to accomplish here?

We have elected representatives who think it is in our best interest to eliminate the 0.0 percent likelihood of a single instance of voter fraud at the cost of disenfranchising 300,000 human beings.   Those affected most will be minorities, single mothers, rural residents, and generally people on the low end of the socio-economic totem pole. Lets not mince words- these are groups that make up traditional democratic voting blocks.

This is not democracy – this is travesty.

Some places have already taken steps to remedy the situation. The Milwaukee County Board approved a resolution on Sep. 25 allowing residents who need to obtain a photo ID a free bus ride to their local DMV Service Center. Madison is considering similar measures.

This law, for better or for worse, will apply on Nov. 4. It now falls on us to protect those that our state officials are attempting to leave out of the democratic process.