By State Representative, Leon D. Young
Leon D. Young
Conventional wisdom would seem to suggest that Scott Walker and his Republican cohorts should have learned a valuable lesson from their blatant attempts to undermine the Democratic process last session. It was assumed, perhaps too naively, that Wisconsin Republicans would be willing to take a more conciliatory approach, in terms of trying to implement their caustic political agenda.
Admittedly, state finances are in better shape than they were two years ago. According to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, the state is projecting a $261 million surplus by June 30, in addition to $125 million the state put in a rainy day fund last year.
The prudent course of action would be to use this surplus to encourage economic growth and promote real job creation. But, Republicans seem fixated on taking the state down another road. Wisconsin is one of nine states that allow voters to register at their polling place on the day of the election, and that’s often credited with helping make Wisconsin ’s voting rate one of the highest in the country.
Since the Nov. 6 election, both Walker and incoming Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) have said they’re considering ending the practice, which goes back to 1976 in the state.
With Wisconsin ’s voter ID law blocked by two judges as an unconstitutional burden on the right to vote. Governor Scott Walker appeared before a sold-out crowd at the Ronald Reagan Library in Los Angeles on November 19, just weeks after Wisconsin reelected President Obama and elected Tammy Baldwin to the U.S. Senate, and announced his plan to end Wisconsin ’s 40-year-old same-day registration law.
Walker has tried to conceal his “true motivation” for wanting to repeal the same- day registration law, by alleging that he was only looking out for beleaguered poll workers. In Walker ’s view, same-day registration places an unreasonable burden on poll workers who often work a 13-hour day and who, in most cases, are retirees.
Interestingly enough, the very people that Walker seeks to advocate for (poll workers) are not in agreement with his proposed change. Wisconsin ’s 1,400 municipal clerks will likely be against the change, as well. While the governor claimed changing the law would “make it easier for city clerks,” to handle registration, rather than volunteer poll workers, a top official with the Wisconsin Municipal Clerks Association forcefully took exception.
The repeal of this law would create a logistical nightmare for city clerk’s offices around the state. Doing away with same-day registration would force Wisconsin to submit to a number of federal mandates aimed at increasing ballot accessibility. Moreover, the state would have to begin offering voter registration through the Division of Motor Vehicles, which would lead to inexperienced state officials handling voting rights.
In the final analysis, one thing is clear: Barack Obama won reelection November 6, 2012 with a higher popular vote than Ronald Reagan enjoyed in 1980, thanks in part to near-record turnout from young people, Blacks and Latinos. According to Scott Walker, Robin Vos, Paul Ryan, Alberta Darling, Reince Priebus, Mitt Romney and others, this is a problem that needs “fixing,” in order to deliver the desired outcome for the GOP.