State bill would drastically change elections
The State Legislature is fast-tracking a 72-page bill, (SB 640) that would, among other things, propose to create a statewide electronic database of voters to correspond with a national database.
1) The bill allows municipalities to set up satellite absentee ballot stations for early voting. These stations apparently could be done in college dorms, outside of bars, or other inappropriate locals.
2) The current open government practice of allowing any citizen to challenge individual ballots would end as monitoring of elections of statewide or national significance would be restricted to people who live within that polling district.
3) Permanent absentee ballot status would be established in which ballots would be sent to people who historically do not vote in low-turnout elections. Currently, permanent absentee ballot status is restricted to people who are confined because of age, physical illness, infirmity, or disabled infinitely making them unable to get to the polls.
4) University IDs could be offered as proof of residence for registration and voting.
5) The increased cost of processing and mailing out the additional absentee ballots is an unfunded mandate that local municipalities will not be able to absorb.
6) Local municipalities will be forced to hire speakers of a foreign language if at least 5% of the adults in their district are not English proficient.
7) The bill proposes to set up a statewide database of voters that the authors said they would hope to link up to a national database.
A Joint Committee on Elections held a public hearing for most of the day yesterday and the Senate Committee on Labor, Elections and Urban Affairs is already taking executive action on the bill today: http://committeeschedule.legis.wisconsin.gov/files/HearingNotices/10-04-01-0945-2009SLAB-13789.html.
What You Can Do:
Contact the committee members and voice your opinion on this bill.
| Senator Spencer Coggs (Chair) |
| Senator Robert Wirch |
| Senator John Lehman |
| Senator Alan Lasee |
| Senator Glenn Grothman |
wisconsinfamilyvoice
Amy Lewis
julaineappling
etskelton
Trackbacks