Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

dragonlady

(3,577 posts)
Sat Oct 10, 2015, 04:20 PM Oct 2015

Wisconsin's right to vote is in serious danger

There will be a hearing THIS TUESDAY at the Capitol on several election-related bills. Everyone, contact your representatives and oppose SB 294 ("reform," that is, gutting of the GAB), SB 295 (described below), and SB 292 (allows coordination between campaigns and special interests). http://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/raw/cid/1203696.

The newest bill in the legislature would end the work of volunteer Special Registration Deputies (who register voters out in the community) in order to get online voter registration. (Some Democrats are supporting this bill.) As someone who has done extensive registration in Milwaukee, I think this is terrible. The Republicans already made it more difficult by requiring us to see a document containing the voter's residence (driver's license, utility bill, bank statement, etc.), which many do not have with them out in public. This bill would do away with SRDs but allow people to register to vote through the GAB website in a process that links to their driver's license or state ID in the DMV database. This will not help people who are insufficiently acquainted with computers or have no license or ID. Even worse, this scheme might allow Republicans to end same-day registration, a real disaster. Republicans have wanted to do that, but have been unable in the past because federal law requires it in the absence of motor-voter registration. Then throw in purging of names from the election database for cooked-up reasons, and any of us could be turned away on election day because we are not in the poll book and there would be nothing we could do about it.


Latest Discussions»Region Forums»Wisconsin»Wisconsin's right to vote...