Monday, February 15, 2016

Fatally-Flawed, Hyper-Partisan Online Voter Registration Measure to Get Vote in Assembly Tuesday




Common Cause in Wisconsin Reform Update
Monday February 15, 2016


1.  Voter Suppression Provisions of GOP Online Voter Registration Legislation Outweigh Its Benefits
2.  No Public Hearing Scheduled Yet for Anti-Gerrymandering Legislation Despite Committee Chair's Pledge to CC/WI
3.  Former State Senator Tim Cullen of Janesville Elected to the CC/WI State Governing Board



1. Last Tuesday evening – February 9th – the Wisconsin State Senate passed, along partisan lines, hyper-partisan legislation – Senate Bill 295 – which eliminates the ability of organizations like the League of Women Voters, the NAACP, Voces del la Frontera and even city and municipal clerks to be able to conduct effective voter registration drives. The measure also stipulates that mailed absentee ballots not received by election day will not be counted. Currently, absentee ballots that have a postmark on Election Day are counted. So that means thousands of absentee ballots will be disqualified!

While SB 295 does provide for some online voter registration – a positive thing – the obvious hyper-partisan voter suppression provisions (added in secret and without a public hearing) render this legislation utterly unsupportable. Both State Senator Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg), the primary author of this abomination, and State Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau,) were both incapable of being able to defend the legislation during the floor debate last week and simply called for partisan votes to defeat Democratic amendments that would have improved the bill. A number of Democratic State Senators were outstanding in their determined assault on this obviously hyper-partisan voter suppression measure: Julie Lassa of Stevens Point, Tim Carpenter of Milwaukee, Mark Miller of Monona, Jon Erpenbach of Middleton, Fred Risser of Madison, Chris Larson of Milwaukee, Janet Bewley of Ashland and Dave Hansen of Green Bay.

The Assembly is scheduled to vote on Senate Bill 295 tomorrow, Tuesday – February 16th – and it is vitally important that you contact your State Representatives and inform them of your opposition to this legislation in its current form. One critical reason to do so is to build the public record in opposition to this and other anti-democratic legislation, as was done last Fall when the GOP destroyed the non-partisan Government Accountability Board and transformed Wisconsin's campaign finance laws into among the very weakest and most susceptible to corruption in the nation. Real citizens do not support this stuff – special interest-controlled politicians do. If you do not know who your State Representative is, go here.

To find out more about this measure and why CC/WI does not support it – and why you need to oppose it, too, go here, here, here, here and here.



2. This past Friday, the Wisconsin State Journal issued this powerful editorial demanding that Republican State Rep. Kathleen Bernier of Lake Halle, the chair of the Assembly Campaign & Elections Committee, fulfill her commitment to Common Cause in Wisconsin to hold a simple public hearing on legislation – Assembly Bill 328 – that would establish a non-partisan redistricting process (similar to Iowa's) in Wisconsin for 2021 and end partisan gerrymandering, which is a significant reason why our elections are rigged. We know both she and the GOP leadership oppose fair maps for legislative and congressional districts. But they owe the citizens of Wisconsin at least a public hearing on the issue where both sides can make their case. Read the editorial and then contact Bernier and demand that she schedule a public hearing on Assembly Bill 328! Her email is Rep.Bernier@legis.wisconsin.gov and her office phone # is 608/266-9172 or 888-534-0068. Make your voice heard!

Additionally – if you have not already done so, please sign our on-line petition in support of non-partisan redistricting reform, specifically the "Iowa-model" legislation, so that we can demonstrate to legislators the very broad-based citizen support for ending hyper-partisan gerrymandering that robs Wisconsinites of genuine choices at election time. If you have already signed the petition, please forward this to friends and urge that they do so as well! Our goal is to get up to 2,000 signatures by the time the Wisconsin Legislature adjourns for the year in March. Thanks!



3. Former State Senator Tim Cullen of Janesville, who served from 1975 to 1987, and then again from 2011 to 2015, has recently been elected to the Common Cause in Wisconsin State Governing Board. Cullen was a leading proponent of political reform issues during his most recent stint in the Legislature and in particular, on the issue of ending partisan gerrymandering. Working closely with former State Senate Dale Schultz (R-Richland Center) and State Senator Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay) and with CC/WI, Cullen helped make redistricting reform and fair voting maps a front and center issue in Wisconsin during his tenure. Tim also served on the CC/WI Board from 2008 to 2010 before running for the State Senate.

Tim recently published a "must read" book about Wisconsin politics and how it has changed (for the worse), particularly over the past five years. We highly recommend that you order and read Ringside Seat to understand where we are in Wisconsin politics and how we got here. Any profits from the book sale go to charity – not to Tim or to CC/WI.

Tim joins these other dedicated Wisconsinites dedicated to honest, clean, good government who currently serve as members of the CC/WI State Governing Board: Naomi Gunderson Bodway of Osseo, Mike Drew of Shorewood, Tom Frazier of Verona, Luke Fuszard of Middleton, Bill Kraus of Madison (Chair), David O. Martin of Muscoda, E. Michael McCann of Milwaukee, Cal Potter of Sheboygan Falls, Kelda Helen Roys of Madison, Penny Bernard Schaber of Appleton, Bob Schweder of Princeton, Fred Trost of Elkhart Lake, Roger Utnehmer of Sturgeon Bay and Dirk Zylman of Sheboygan.




CONTACT:

Jay Heck

608/256-2686 (office)
608/512-9363 (cell)


Jay Heck, Executive Director
Common Cause in Wisconsin
152 W. Johnson St., Suite 212
Madison, WI 53703
608/256-2686

Want Good Government?
Join Common Cause in Wisconsin!
www.CommonCauseWisconsin.org

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Sunday, February 14, 2016

Vital Information Every Wisconsinite Needs to Know to Vote on Tuesday – and for All 2016 Elections!



For Release: Sunday - February 14, 2016
Voting is a right
you can't afford to lose.

Click the links below to download
one-page Voter ID Fact Sheets for:


All Eligible Wisconsin Voters
Spanish Language version

Senior Citizens
Spanish Language version

College Students


Click here for more on getting ready to vote in 2016!



CONTACT:

Jay Heck
608/256-2686 (office)
608/512-9363 (cell)




Common Cause in Wisconsin
152 W. Johnson St., Suite 212
Madison, WI  53703
608/256-2686

Want Good Government?
Join Common Cause in Wisconsin!
www.CommonCauseWisconsin.org



Read More...


Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Feb 11th Press Conference: Educating Seniors on Voter ID/Impact of SB 295 on Voter Registration




For Release: Wednesday - February 10, 2016

Media Advisory

Capitol Press Conference on Thursday, Feb 11th

Educating Seniors about Voter ID,
Impact of SB 295 on Voter Registration Drives

Common Cause in Wisconsin (CC/WI), the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin (LWV-WI), and organizations representing older adults are holding a press conference tomorrow – Thursday, February 11th – at 10:30 AM in the Assembly Parlor at the State Capitol to announce the Voices Of The Elderly (VOTE) Collaboration, an initiative to assist older voters in obtaining the required photo ID that will be necessary to cast a ballot in the 2016 elections.

Speakers will also address Senate Bill 295, legislation that would undermine the effectiveness of voter registration drives in Wisconsin by eliminating special registration deputies, while allowing limited online voter registration.

Jay Heck, Executive Director - Common Cause in Wisconsin
Tom Frazier, former Executive Director - Coalition of Wisconsin Aging Groups
Janet Zander, Advocacy and Public Policy Coordinator - Greater Wisconsin Agency on Aging Resources
Andrea Kaminski, Executive Director - League of Women Voters of Wisconsin
Colleen Gruszynski, Data and Targeting Manager - Wisconsin Voices




CONTACT:

Jay Heck
608/256-2686 (office)
608/512-9363 (cell)




Common Cause in Wisconsin
152 W. Johnson St., Suite 212
Madison, WI  53703
608/256-2686

Want Good Government?
Join Common Cause in Wisconsin!
www.CommonCauseWisconsin.org



Read More...


Monday, February 8, 2016

GOP Legislators Target Voter Registration Drives




For Release: Monday - February 8, 2016

Republicans Plan to Decimate Voter Registration Drives


State Senate Could Vote as Early as Tuesday, February 9th

The Republican-controlled State Senate may consider legislation as early as tomorrow, February 9th, that would effectively undermine organized voter registration drives in Wisconsin. .

Last Wednesday, on a 3-2 party-line vote, Republicans on the State Senate Elections Committee approved Senate Bill 295, along with an “eleventh-hour” amendment authored by the Committee's Chair, State Senator Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg). Among other things, SB 295 would allow (some) Wisconsinites to register to vote online, but would eliminate "the authority to appoint and use special registration deputies.”

While we vigorously support online voter registration, we do not support this version or this legislation. The League of Women Voters of Wisconsin, and many other good government groups in Wisconsin, oppose Senate Bill 295 in its present form as well.

The GOP proposal allows only those with a Wisconsin drivers license or state-issued ID access to the online system. As a result, those individuals less likely to have those forms of ID (minorities, the elderly, low-income persons, and students) – the very people most likely to be served by special registration deputies (SRDs) – will be left out in the cold, having far fewer options to be able to register to vote.

This legislation would make Wisconsin the only state in the country to offer online voter registration at a cost that outweighs the benefits of instituting such a system.

Currently, special registration deputies are appointed by a municipal clerk to register fellow citizens at many venues within their municipality. You will often see SRDs during election season at libraries, community centers, nursing homes, farmer's markets, outside of banks, at supermarkets, and on college campuses. The success of voter registration drives – conducted by groups like the League of Women Voters, the NAACP, Voces de la Frontera, and the American Association of University Women – hinges on the SRD's authority to register voters.

SRDs have been registering voters in Wisconsin for over 40 years without any problem whatsoever, and there is no valid reason to eliminate them.

Please help us stop this latest attempt to make it harder for thousands of Wisconsinites to be able to register and to vote. Call or email your State Senator TODAY and urge them to oppose SB 295! If you don't know who your State Senator is, go here.

Spread this post far and wide. Act now!




CONTACT:

Jay Heck
608/256-2686 (office)
608/512-9363 (cell)




Common Cause in Wisconsin
152 W. Johnson St., Suite 212
Madison, WI  53703
608/256-2686

Want Good Government?
Join Common Cause in Wisconsin!
www.CommonCauseWisconsin.org



Read More...


Monday, February 1, 2016

In the News - February 2016


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