Today marks the first day of early voting in Wisconsin. Voters have until October 31 to cast an early ballot in the gubernatorial election. With ten days of early voting in progress, the Democratic Party is presenting a new reason each day for voters to say no to Scott Walker on Election Day.
On the first day of early vote we look at Scott Walker’s support for voter restrictions like Voter ID as our first reason to get to the polls and vote against another four years of Scott Walker.
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Scott Walker finally reached a long term goal in bringing a strict voter ID law to the state in May 2011, making Wisconsin only the 11th state to require a photo ID in order to vote. [1]
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After the 2004 election, former U.S. Attorney and Bush appointee Steven Biskupic also declared that he found no evidence of widespread voter fraud in Wisconsin. [2]
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At the time of the bill’s passage, the state Department of Justice and the Milwaukee County district attorney’s office had prosecuted only 20 cases of voter fraud from the November 2008 election and none of them involved a person voting in someone else’s name. [3]
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Scott Walker’s voter ID law was one of the most restrictive voter ID laws in the nation, requiring that voters sign poll books when voting and requiring that absentee voters send a copy of their photo ID when they mail the ballot in to clerks. [4]
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After nearly two years of being held up in the courts, the U.S. Seventh District Court of Appeals ruled that Scott Walker’s voter ID law was constitutional rushed to reinstate the voter ID law for the November election. [5]
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Scott Walker proved to be on the wrong side of history, again, when the U.S. Supreme Court protected the rights of Wisconsin citizens and blocked the voter ID from going into effect for the November elections. [6]
Background:
[1] (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, “Walker signs photo ID measure; legal challenge possible”, 5/25/11)
[2] (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, “Walker signs photo ID measure; legal challenge possible”, 5/25/11)
[3] (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, “Walker signs photo ID measure; legal challenge possible”, 5/25/11)
[4] (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, “Walker signs photo ID measure; legal challenge possible”, 5/25/11)
[5] (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, “Divided Court Upholds Wisconsin Voter ID Law”, 8/1/14)
[6] (New York Times, “Courts strike down voter ID laws in Wisconsin and Texas, 10/9/14)
