Gov Scott Walker’s Wisconsin Has No Budget For Voter ID
Three state agencies in Wisconsin who are tasked with implementing voter ID for the Nov. 4 election say they have no additional money set aside to help voters and state workers comply with the newly reinstated requirement. In addition, there is no money for public information or an outreach campaign.
[su_center_ad]Municipal clerks in Wisconsin’s two largest cities say they will spend thousands of dollars and hire hundreds of poll workers in the next few weeks to ensure that voters have the proper government-issued photo identification when casting their ballots, according to Wisconsin State Journal.
According to spokesmen for the three state agencies — the Government Accountability Board, the Division of Motor Vehicles and the Department of Health Services — they are using existing staff and resources to handle the demand.
Laurel Patrick, a spokeswoman for Gov. Scott Walker, said the state has no estimate of how much it will cost to implement voter ID.
Patrick claims her office has worked “extensively” with the DMV, which issues IDs, the state health department, which handles Wisconsin birth certificates, and the GAB, which runs elections, to ensure that voters without proper identification can get it.
“We are monitoring the volume of requests,” Patrick said, “and have plans in place to add additional staff if needed.”
Wisconsin State Journal reports:
But Jay Heck, executive director of Common Cause in Wisconsin, said the lack of money devoted by the state appears to be a deliberate attempt to make it difficult for voters to comply with the requirement.
“The way to sow maximum confusion is to not make information available,” Heck said. “It is confusing — deliberately so.”
On Friday, two groups that had tried unsuccessfully to overturn the voter ID law went back to the Wisconsin Supreme Court to ask that the requirement be delayed until after the Nov. 4 election to give voters more time to get the proper identification….
Albrecht said 1,500 city poll workers trained over the summer will have to be retrained before Nov. 4, along with 300 to 400 extra workers “to make sure it (voter ID) does not bottleneck voting sites on Election Day.” About 50,000 absentee ballot envelopes also will have to be reprinted, he said.“From an election administration standpoint, we can implement voter ID,” Albrecht said. “But from a voter standpoint, there is not proper time to educate all voters … and ensure they’re also able to cast a ballot on Election Day.”
One longtime Madison voter and poll worker, Gene Bliss Gay, said she was confused about whether she needed an ID to vote. She is 85 years old, doesn’t drive and has limited mobility. That means she qualifies as an “indefinitely confined” person who can vote absentee without sending in a copy of an ID.
“I worked the elections for 20 years with three other ladies. We never had a single problem,” Gay said. “I think this whole thing is asinine and a big waste of money.”
It’s going to be another nasty election season in Wisconsin. A group of self-deemed militia members plan to go to the voting lines to harass African American Democrats. [su_csky_ad]
rg9rts September 21st, 2014 at 2:07 pm
Typical gopee if you can’t cheat then keep the $$$$ and derail the voter’s rights.
NW10 September 21st, 2014 at 2:08 pm
http://www.quickmeme.com/img/7b/7bb3aabc1a1f047b87c83f6d87402380ea2ce6c96765c27e2a59507764995263.jpg
Linda1961 September 21st, 2014 at 2:11 pm
A waste of time and money to solve a problem that doesn’t exist…
William September 21st, 2014 at 2:24 pm
Because…..Derp, that’s why.
m2old4bs September 21st, 2014 at 2:29 pm
Wow, and people are still proud to be GOP!??! Deliberate? Absolutely! Asinine? Completely! Waste of time and money? You betcha! Come on Wisconsin. You are better than this!
eddie1247 September 21st, 2014 at 2:32 pm
If this guy had freckles and red hair he could pass for howdy doody.
GreatLakeSailor September 21st, 2014 at 6:33 pm
with the soul of Chuckie.
Skydog2 September 21st, 2014 at 2:33 pm
All the time & money spent complaining about voter ID laws could be redirected to helping people obtain IDs.
Rusty Shackleford September 21st, 2014 at 3:07 pm
All the time and money spent attempting to implement voter ID laws seems out-of-character for those who profess “small government” and “fiscal conservatism.” Pardon me if I consider their motives suspect, especially since they’ve thus far failed to prove the existence of the problem they’re attempting to “solve.”
William September 21st, 2014 at 3:11 pm
“All the time & money spent complaining about voter ID laws”.
In my country (the USA), one can complain for free.
How much does it cost to complain in your country?
StoneyCurtisll September 21st, 2014 at 3:20 pm
Derp.
StoneyCurtisll September 21st, 2014 at 3:26 pm
Of course you didn’t read the article…
If you had you would have noticed this…
“Municipal clerks in Wisconsin’s two largest cities say they will spend
thousands of dollars and hire hundreds of poll workers in the next few
weeks to ensure that voters have the proper government-issued photo
identification when casting their ballots”..
This shoots down your “time and money spent complaining” pseudo-argument.
M D Reese September 21st, 2014 at 2:36 pm
The GOPTP is not just the party of “Hell No!” They are the party of deliberately suppressing the minority vote by any way possible. I hope that the UN sends in observers to watch our polls this fall.
StoneyCurtisll September 21st, 2014 at 3:34 pm
Imagine that…
Impose voter ID laws…
And not fund the people responsible for implementing those laws..
And they deny they are suppressing voters?
Billy Jackson September 21st, 2014 at 4:00 pm
f’ing idiot should be in jail! If Wisconsin can’t comply with their own self-imposed law, then it should be thrown the f$ck out!
Mainah September 21st, 2014 at 4:53 pm
Wow. The party of the “not so fiscally responsible” doing what it can to end run people’s constitutional right to vote, whether it is implicitli or explicitly implied as some scholar’s and judiciary argue. The fact that they redistrict tells me that their ideas can not stand on their own. If they did, then they wouldn’t need all the smoke and mirrors. Absolutely ridiculous.
Jake September 21st, 2014 at 5:08 pm
Unless the state is going to provide these ids for free then we should call this like it is – its a tax on voting – nothing more nothing less – Gee thanks Republicans just what we need – a new tax.
labman57 September 21st, 2014 at 5:44 pm
Republican-controlled state governments should simply cut to the chase and declare that any voter who is not a registered member of the GOP is not permitted to participate in the election process.
How expensive can that be?
tiredoftea September 21st, 2014 at 8:57 pm
Brilliant solution!
Denise September 21st, 2014 at 6:53 pm
isn’t this a poll tax? it’s illegal. I hope this is reported to the doj
greenfloyd September 22nd, 2014 at 12:00 am
If Walker persist in this blatant act of voter suppression and the courts don’t stop it, then Obama needs to enforce the US Voting Rights Act. Voters can insist on a Provisional Ballot and force the state to prove their ineligibility to cast it. Perhaps, as a last resort, National Guard troops to protect voters and DOJ monitors to oversee and audit the counting.
liberalMD September 22nd, 2014 at 9:18 am
If the state doesn’t have the money to implement the program, the law will have to be rescinded until the governor and legislators can find the funds to implement the law. In the meantime, the Democrats need to make haste and send some lawmakers and Scott Walker home from Madison. Then this unethical law can be permanently rescinded by rational-thinking legislators.
See what happens when you line the pockets of your cronies too well, Scottie!
GWBear October 6th, 2014 at 3:14 pm
This could get ugly. If poll workers insist, they could be locking many thousands out of the polls, mostly poor folks… I suspect that is exactly their intent. Everyone will say, “Oopsie! No harm no foul” after the fact, but of course by then, the damage will be done.
It would serve the sate right if the Feds put them on notice that having people locked out or denied right to vote will invalidate the election and it will have to be done again. Of course, the Feds don’t stand up for the liberties and rights of citizens any more either.
In the old days, we would send observers to other countries to ensure the vote was fair. It looks like we need such people now, as the Right is bending every rule and process they can to ensure they block minorities (likely Democrats) from voting.