Wisconsin: Dear Representative Stone

June 20, 2011


Rep. Jeff Stone

Room 314 North
State Capitol
P.O. Box 8953
Madison, WI 53708




Dear Rep. Stone;

I have been a statewide voter registration deputy, a position created in 2007 to bring Wisconsin in accord with the Help America Vote Act of 2002, which the House passed 357-48 and the Senate passed 92-2, and President Bush signed.

Prior to the creation of the position of Statewide Registration Deputy, voters could be registered only by a registration deputy authorized in their own municipality; often local registration training was done haphazardly and many irregularities occurred. Statewide Registration Deputies were trained only by the General Accountability Board’s Election Division, our terms were limited and frequent re-training and re-authorization were required; if we made mistakes, our re-authorization was denied. This built many safeguards into the process of registering eligible Wisconsin voters. The Wisconsin Administrative Code (November 20, 2007) creating the position of Statewide Registration Deputy states: “Fiscal Effect: There is no fiscal effect.”

My term expired at the end of 2010, and due to the Supreme Court election recount and the recall petitions, the GAB staff has not had time to hold a training session for some time. This morning I inquired of Allison Coakley, GAB, who coordinates the training, when the next training session would be. She informed me that the Voter ID bill had eliminated the GAB’s authority to appoint Statewide Registration Deputies.

When I inquired what the rationale is for eliminating Statewide Registration Deputies, I was informed that you are the author of Wisconsin Act 23, the Voter ID act, and can provide me with that rationale. Clearly it is not about voter fraud -- part of its purpose is to prevent voting irregularities. Clearly it is not about the state’s budget or municipalities’ budgets -- it has no fiscal effect. It is difficult not to draw the conclusion that it is an attempt to make it more difficult for eligible Wisconsin citizens to vote. I hope that is not the case, and that there is a legitimate reason for it. And I hope you can tell me what it is.

Respectfully,


(name withheld)


cc: Kevin Kennedy, Ex. Dir. GAB

Gov. Scott Walker

Sen. Herb Kohl

Sen. Ron Johnson

Martin Kaiser, Editor, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinal

Clay Barbour, State Government Reporter, Wisconsin State Journal

Allison Coakley, Elections Training Coordinator, GAB




See link for earlier thread this topic...


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1332820

This change makes no sense.