Monday, March 21, 2016

WI College & University Students Must Check NOW to Ensure They Are Able to Vote on April 5th and Beyond



For Release: Monday - March 21, 2016

WI College & University Students Must Check NOW
to Make Sure they Are Able to Vote on April 5th and Beyond


Status of College-Issued IDs for Voting
at Wisconsin Colleges, Universities, and Technical Colleges

Wisconsin's very strict voter photo ID law is in effect for all 2016 elections in this state, including the upcoming and critical April 5th election in which a state supreme court justice will be selected, our state voters' preferences for the Democratic and Republican candidates for the U.S. Presidency will be determined, and numerous important local offices and issues will be decided.

Students should confirm now if they already have a photo ID that is acceptable for voting on April 5th and beyond, culminating in the all-important November 8th election that will select a new U.S. President, a Wisconsin U.S. Senator, and numerous other federal and state elected officials.

Most students already have a Wisconsin driver license or one of the other acceptable forms of photo ID for voting pictured left.

(Click to enlarge image)

However, those students who do not have one of these acceptable forms of photo ID for voting will (e.g., many students from out of state) will need to find out if their current school-issued student ID can be used as a voter photo ID – and, if their student ID cannot be used for voting, whether or not their school offers an alternative photo ID for voting and how to obtain it.

Students who do not have one of the IDs pictured left AND whose schools do not offer an ID that is acceptable for voting can go to their local DMV and get a free DOT-issued Wisconsin ID (see this voter photo ID fact sheet for details on how to get a free ID at the DMV) – or, if they are from out of state, vote with an absentee ballot in their home state.

Common Cause in Wisconsin (CC/WI) reached out to all 64 of Wisconsin's colleges, universities and technical schools to help students determine the availability of a school-issued ID that could be used as a required photo ID at a polling place for those students who do not already have one of the other photo IDs acceptable for voting. We also collected information about where and what days and hours students could get a school-issued photo ID for voting, if one is offered, and provided additional voter photo ID education where needed.

Of the 64 institutions we contacted, all but one school – Gateway Technical College – provided definitive information. We will update this page with links to revised lists as new information is confirmed.

We urge students who do not have one of the other acceptable forms of photo ID to look up their institution NOW on the appropriate list below to find out if their current student ID is an acceptable form of voter photo ID in order to be able to cast a ballot on April 5th and beyond. If it is not, then you can also determine if you are able to obtain a school-issued voter photo ID from your school and how to do so.

The standard student ID at only three of the University of Wisconsin's 13 four-year schools and at seven of the state's 23 private colleges can be used as a voter photo ID.

University of Wisconsin – 4-Year Schools
University of Wisconsin – 2-Year Schools
Wisconsin Private Universities & Colleges
Wisconsin Technical Colleges

For more information, please see this voter ID fact sheet for Wisconsin college and university students and visit BringIt.WI.Gov.

Remember, voting is a right none of us can afford to lose. Make sure you are ready to vote NOW!


CONTACT:

Sandra Miller

smiller@commoncause.org

608/256-2686 (office)
608/658-2109 (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



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Thursday, March 3, 2016

CC/WI Calls on Governor to Find Out Why WI DOT Has No Mobile DMV Program to Distribute Voter Photo ID



Common Cause in Wisconsin Reform Update
Thursday - March 3, 2016

1.  State and national organizations' letter to WI DOT requesting establishment of a Mobile DMV program to distribute required voter photo ID remains unanswered for eight months – CC/WI calls on Governor Walker to intervene.

2.  What every Wisconsin citizen needs to have in order to be able to vote in compliance with the voter photo ID law.

3.  Partisan appointments to newly established Wisconsin GAB "Commissions" underscore how misguided and harmful the destruction of the non-partisan GAB will be to Wisconsinites.


1. Last June, CC/WI and 12 other state and national public interest organizations sent this letter to Wisconsin Department of Transportation Secretary Mark Gottlieb requesting the establishment of a mobile Division of Motor Vehicles program comprised of vehicles that visit under-served communities throughout the state to distribute DOT-issued photo ID now required in order to cast a ballot that will be counted in Wisconsin elections.

The letter was never acknowledged and a follow-up phone inquiry on February 1st also never received a response, despite assurances that we would receive one.

Other states that have enacted voter photo ID laws such as Alabama, Indiana, Texas and Virginia have all established mobile DMV service centers. Wisconsin is a glaring omission from this listing.

Today, CC/WI sent this letter to Governor Scott Walker, requesting that he rectify this situation that his own Department of Transportation has completely ignored. We hope to receive his affirmative response in short order as there is now only a little more than four weeks until the April 5th Spring election.


2. As was just mentioned, the April 5th Spring election is almost upon us, in which Wisconsin will select a Justice to serve a 10-year term on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Please take a moment and review this vital information to make sure that you, your family, friends, neighbors and fellow citizens are "armed" with the information you need in order to comply with the voter photo ID law, which is in effect for all elections during 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!


3. Last Fall, Republicans in the Legislature rammed through hyper-partisan legislation that eviscerated the eight-year-old, non-partisan Wisconsin Government Accountability Board (GAB) which oversees our state's election, ethics, campaign finance and lobbying laws. CC/WI played a major role in devising and enacting into law (in 2007) the establishment of the GAB, working closely with legislators of both political parties over a five-year period following the infamous 2002 Legislative Caucus Scandal.

The GAB worked very well, but Republican legislative leaders and Governor Walker wanted partisan control of the decisions made by the GAB and so in 2015 they stripped away the non-partisanship and independence that the GAB has been empowered with in order to be able to effectively ferret out corruption in state government, no matter who the target of an investigation might be. CC/WI led the statewide effort opposing the destruction of the GAB, but the Republicans went ahead with the misguided and dishonest legislation – despite almost unanimous and significant public and editorial opposition to this action.

Last week, the first partisan appointments to the newly formed partisan Ethics and Elections Commissions (to replace the current six, non-partisan retired judges) were named by partisan legislative leaders.

CC/WI commented in this front page article in the Wisconsin State Journal about the appointments and the WSJ issued this editorial condemning the new, partisan appointment process.

CC/WI Director Jay Heck also explained why this is a step backward on Wisconsin Public Radio and on Wisconsin Public Television.

We will, of course, follow the other partisan appointments to the GAB and comment as necessary.



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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Tuesday, March 1, 2016

In the News - March 2016

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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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