Scott Walker Wants To Make It Harder To Vote
November 20th, 2012 2:50 pm Jason Sattler
Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) has already made a foray into Iowa and pandered to the religious right by implying he might embrace New Earth Creationism. Now, Wisconsin’s Tea Party hero Governor Scott Walker (R-WI) seems to be positioning himself for 2016 by pursuing a goal that unites the Republican Party—making it harder to vote.
In a speech at the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California, Walker called for an end to Wisconsin’s same-day registration. What reasoning does he possibly have to discontinue a tradition that has made it easer to vote in the Badger State for generations?
He says that he’s concerned about poll workers:
States across the country that have same-day registration have real problems because the vast majority of their states have poll workers who are wonderful volunteers, who work 13-hour days and who in most cases are retirees. It’s difficult for them to handle the volume of people who come at the last minute. It’d be much better if registration was done in advance of election day. It’d be easier for our clerks to handle that. All that needs to be done.
Sure, Walker is concerned about conditions for workers, not the fact that the GOP lost Wisconsin by more than 6 percent, even though Wisconsinite Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) was on the ticket. It couldn’t be, as MSNBC’s Steve Benen points out, that the turnout rate in Democratic Milwaukee hit 87 percent.
(A commenter on Benen’s post won the internet with this response: “To further ease the burden on these elderly ‘volunteers,’ Walker proposed the elimination of elections altogether, substituting a Lifetime Appointment Decree in its place. It was unanimously passed by the Republican Legislature on Monday.”)
Of course, other Republicans are skipping over Walker’s justification of the law and going straight to crying wolf, AKA voter fraud, claiming it’s difficult to verify addresses for same-day registration.
Again the GOP is creating a problem that doesn’t exist in order to justify making voting more difficult.
“To date, no Republican has been able to show that there is any impersonation voter fraud and every study shows that there is no rampant voter impropriety in the state of Wisconsin or around the country,” Scot Ross, head of the liberal group One Wisconsin Now, said.
Walker became a household name in 2010 by pushing a law that stripped state workers of the right to bargain collectively. His agenda also includes corporate tax cuts and cutting regulation for business. Across the nation, the GOP’s official stand seems to be that regulation is terrible –unless it prevents workers from organizing, women from making their own health care choices and voters from voting.
In other Scott Walker news, Kelly Rindfleisch, Walker’s deputy chief of staff when he was Milwaukee County Executive, was sentenced to 6 months in jail and 3 years of probation for campaigning for Walker while on the clock as a county employee.
Six people including Rindfleisch have been charged as a result of a secret investigation into Walker’s gubernatorial campaign. The governor is not one of them, as of yet.
Photo credit: AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File
-
http://profile.yahoo.com/7J35GJP7OMNEISJ6HBZJKVBK6I LindaL
-
anyasnote
-
Paul Browne
-
Canistercook
-
amarquez647
-
Canistercook
-
Sand_Cat
-
Canistercook
-
Sand_Cat
-
Canistercook
-
http://profile.yahoo.com/HFYZP2APYPP7H6PWS2ZDQRWFEQ Hillbilly
-
Canistercook
-
tobyspeeks
-
foolsdance
-
Canistercook
-
Sand_Cat
-
Canistercook
-
http://profile.yahoo.com/HFYZP2APYPP7H6PWS2ZDQRWFEQ Hillbilly
-
Canistercook
-
http://profile.yahoo.com/6LV46JYK2SEXSXEOTFLGQ37FAA GEORGE
-
Canistercook
-
johninPCFL
-
Canistercook
-
http://profile.yahoo.com/ZJ5BBSQIGTUMERPZFALES6HQNY Bill
-
Canistercook
-
Del WS
-
Canistercook
-
johninPCFL
-
johninPCFL
-
Canistercook
-
http://profile.yahoo.com/HFYZP2APYPP7H6PWS2ZDQRWFEQ Hillbilly
-
Canistercook
-
http://profile.yahoo.com/HFYZP2APYPP7H6PWS2ZDQRWFEQ Hillbilly
-
Canistercook
-
nobsartist
-
lana ward
-
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_B6RROC4IUESHT322QS5VJVPYRM Lynda
-
http://profile.yahoo.com/PMVMZMDLRQL3TRK5RNOHJVZPHU stoptheinsanity
-
lana ward
-
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_TT6POTCLZCE74T76WAJIIIUAHU frida
-
http://www.facebook.com/people/Colleen-Klemp/100002683878543 Colleen Klemp
-
William Deutschlander
-
http://profile.yahoo.com/WAYM6CPMQ3M6RRKE6TA2MN2QYQ Rex H
-
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1343058587 Mildred Ortega Calderon
-
http://www.facebook.com/people/Colleen-Klemp/100002683878543 Colleen Klemp
-
adriancrutch
-
ococoob
-
http://www.facebook.com/debbie.kieselryan1 Debbie Kiesel-Ryan
-
howa4x
-
http://profile.yahoo.com/HFYZP2APYPP7H6PWS2ZDQRWFEQ Hillbilly
-
howa4x
-
Budjob
-
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_QFTD4SSX5TR5T6YNW7WVHPSJZI Fred
-
Ayaya Worenwu
-
http://profile.yahoo.com/7OSTK2CD6YLTWC6DK7P6UN35FM GW
-
http://profile.yahoo.com/HFYZP2APYPP7H6PWS2ZDQRWFEQ Hillbilly
-
Budjob
-
http://profile.yahoo.com/RGOUPZ3JYNMPBVOHLZRCRVRD6Q ivory69690
-
tobyspeeks
-
http://profile.yahoo.com/HFYZP2APYPP7H6PWS2ZDQRWFEQ Hillbilly
-
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1425480465 Liz Feeser-Regan
-
ARepublicanNorthlandGrad
-
http://profile.yahoo.com/3S7SF3VBIUIX7PT2U5DV26BIOI well aware of situation
-
http://www.facebook.com/people/Jim-Myers/100001512942781 Jim Myers
-
http://www.facebook.com/lutrell.simmons Lutrell Simmons
-
dsand1445
-
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_4TPSXBB5YIPKDVPNYYED7LZTPA hometown dude
-
jstsyn

