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THEY SAID IT
Snippets from the voter ID debate.
by John-David Morgan
April 26, 2005
The Republican voter ID bill, which would have Wisconsin join South Carolina as the states with the most restrictive picture ID voting laws in the nation, is on Gov. Jim Doyle’s desk, awaiting his veto.
It passed the state Senate earlier this month on a 21-12 tally, with Milwaukee Democrats Jeff Plale and Tim Carpenter voting with the Republicans (though Plale, a conservative Dem who represents the east side, Bay View, St. Francis, Cudahy, South Milwaukee and Oak Creek, had called for a “compromise” bill). Carpenter, a generally progressive Senator who represents the west-southwest side of the city, inexplicably told reporters he voted for it because his constituents seemed to think it was a good idea (or because he realized that some of them read the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; the daily has been harassing the Milwaukee elections commission and the district attorney about the Milwaukee 2004 vote all year). Carpenter’s office has not responded to WatchdogMilwaukee.com requests for an interview to explain his position.
In March, the bill (AB 63) passed in the state Assembly 64-33. That vote, coupled with the Senate vote, has left Democrats in a perilous position in the fight to uphold Gov. Doyle’s promised veto. Republicans are just one Democratic vote short of the two-thirds majority needed for a veto override in both the Senate and the Assembly.
SOME CHOICE SNIPPETS FROM THE DEBATE
“Voting is a privilege, not a right.” -- Wauwatosa state Senator Tom Reynolds, at the Senate public hearings on Voter ID and other measures held at State Fair Park. Reynolds, whose reputation as a rather loony Evangelical continues to grow, chaired the Senate committee that held the hearings, the only one held in Milwaukee County. State Fair Park, it should be noted, is in Reynolds’ Wauwatosa/West Allis-based Senate district.
"If you want the benefits of citizenry, you also need to take the other things that come along with that." -- Republican Jeff Stone (Greenfield), AB 63 co-author, in a Chicago Tribune article headlined “Strict voter ID rules get OK in Wisconsin.” The Tribune reporter had interviewed college students in Wisconsin from other states who said they probably would not have voted last fall if they had to go and get a Wisconsin ID first. "I would feel like they wouldn't want my vote," the student said.
If Republicans were serious about cleaning up the election
system, "they'd be talking about something that would ensure
every vote is counted properly, not bar 120,000 Wisconsin residents
who don't have a driver's license or photo ID from voting,"
– Gov. Doyle spokeswoman Melanie Fonder in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Doyle’s veto is pending. The state Department of Transportation estimates that 70 percent (85,000 people) of the citizens without ID’s in Wisconsin are senior citizens.
CITIZENSHIP PROOF AND ID LAW AHEAD
In 21 states this year, some form of voter identification legislation has been introduced, with Indiana and Georgia expected to enact stricter photo ID laws, which could face legal challenges. The Chicago Tribune story also noted that these laws are “an offshoot” of the debate about the ability of illegal immigrants to get drivers’ licenses, according to Tim Storey, a senior fellow at the National Conference of State Legislators.
In step with that legislative movement, Republicans in Wisconsin have introduced a new, restrictive law that would require people to show immigration papers and other proof of citizenship documents before obtaining driver’s licenses. Unions representing Hispanic workers and voting rights groups are gearing up for yet another battle in the Republican-controlled Legislature.
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