Good story by Patrick Marley on the WISGOP's latest antic:
Sen. Joe Leibham (R-Sheboygan), author of the bill, said many people "have truly lost their confidence in the election system" because of reports of voter fraud.And do you know who those "many people" are?
They are elected Republicans and their noisiest enablers among the local Journal Communications, Inc. marquee personalities who push those ginned-up "reports" of voter fraud. Because look here:
The Wisconsin Department of Justice and Milwaukee County district attorney's office have prosecuted 20 cases of voter fraud from the November 2008 election. None involves people voting in someone else's name at the polls.None. Zero. Nada. Niente. They are mostly ineligible electors (e.g., persons with an unfulfilled felony sentence) attempting to vote. And I bet you every one of them already had a photo ID in their wallet.
It's worth a reminder that Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Patience Roggensack, who may be the most conservative judge in the State, has argued that voting is a First Amendment right; that is, it is a fundamental right of Americans that any legislation attempting to curtail without sufficient reason should be subject to the strictest of judicial scrutiny.* In other words, did Walker and Scott Fitzgerald and their pals not contemplate how many times they would be (successfully) sued pursuant to their radical legislative agenda?
Fitzgerald may be unconcerned because when hundreds of thousands of protesters — many of whom literally camped inside the building for weeks — descend on the Capitol and cause an alleged $112K worth of scuffed limestone (including an unspecified number of scuffs caused by people in wheelchairs), conservative Republicans go apeshit. But when Fitz personally spends one quarter of that on three Republican-for-hire attorneys for a couple of days' work, nobody bats an eyelash.
Meanwhile the people of Wisconsin's investigation of Scott Walker, Scott Fitzgerald, and indeed the entire WISGOP legislative caucus for votee fraud committed in November, 2010 continues unabated.
* Meaning the legal burden would be on the WISGOPers to prove they were compelled to make voting more difficult based on a record that includes the zero instances of related "fraud" depicted above in a high-interest election that featured candidates for everything from Waukesha County clerk to president of the United States. So good luck to 'em all and may God bless Fitz Van Walker on that account.
6 comments:
Und nichts.
"and those who opposed having their photos taken for religious reasons [would be exempt from the law]"
So Republicans can empathize with people who believe cameras steal one's soul, but not with someone whose boss won't let them take time off from their shitty job to get to the DMV.
I'm surprised they didn't include a provision that voters must prove their adherence to the one true faith to placate Kleefisch and her minions.
Question. Does the proposed legislation require that your photo ID have your current address (i.e. an address in the ward in which you intend to cast your vote)?
If so, then your argument about nobody being prosecuted for voting under a different name is somewhat off point. And, perhaps more importantly, the proposed legislation is much more insidious. Think about the number of people, students in particular, who move each calendar year.
For a while now, I've been wondering about a name for a blog, if I ever decide to have a real one. It's posts like this one that make me think it should called "Follow The Logic".
*headdesk* I knew I shoulda said mug shot in their wallet.
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