Following Obama’s Victory, Wisconsin Governor Proposes New Limits On Voter Registration

Two weeks after Barack Obama and Sen.-elect Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) carried the state of Wisconsin with the support of minorities and young voters, Gov. Scott Walker (R) announced one of his major policy proposals for the upcoming session: ending the state’s 40-year old law that allows citizens to register to vote on Election Day. And with Republicans now back in control of the Wisconsin state legislature, Walker may well get his way next year. In 2008, Wisconsin enjoyed the second highest turnout of any state in the nation (72.4 percent of eligible voters cast a ballot), due largely to the fact the Badger State law allows residents who aren’t registered or have recently moved to register at the polls. That year, approximately 460,000 people used Election Day Registration, 15 percent of all Wisconsinites who cast a ballot. Walker pressed his case for ending same-day registration during a speech at the Ronald Reagan Library in California on Friday: “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,” Walker said. “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.“ Wisconsin was the first state to enact Election Day Registration in 1971, followed soon by states like Minnesota and Maine. Today, eleven states have laws allowing citizens to register at the polls. These states enjoy the highest turnout in the nation not by chance, but because Election Day Registration boosts turnout by 7 to 14 percentage points. In addition, studies show that minorities, poorer voters, and students benefit the most from being permitted to register on Election Day. Republican legislators in Maine attempted a similar move last year, repealing the state’s 40-year-old Election Day Registration law. However, a citizen backlash erupted, sending the matter to a statewide referendum where voters rebuked the legislature and restored the law by a 2-to-1 margin. The last time Walker and his Republican allies won complete control of the legislature in 2010, they immediately passed a discriminatory voter ID law that would have disenfranchised people like 84-year-old Ruthelle Frank had it not been blocked by a state judge. Now, with Wisconsin State Republicans riding high, they appear to again be setting their sights on chipping away at voting rights.

http%3A//thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/11/19/1217991/scott-walker-election-day-registration/

Excellent start to the Republican outreach program.
I have to agree. Allowing people to register to vote the same day is rife for fraud. I don't see the problem with cutting it off a week or two before to veryify applications.
Wisconsin had their chance...this is what they have chosen.
R2 Can you point to any vases of widespread voter fraud? Other than GOPmattempts to suppress voting.
[quote] That year, approximately 460,000 people used Election Day Registration That sounds like a nightmare. But I know he's only doing it to disenfranchise Democrats. My state ends voter registration Oct 6th
people registering one day is more prone to fraud than registering another day? have any studies to back that up? no. didn't think so. opening registration on the day of voting would be fantastic for those that are busy, that never got around to it, that are thoughtless, that are lazy. people like students, mothers, and any number of other people who for one reason or another just don't register but who would go vote if they could.
Why does Scott Walker hate Americans and want to take away their right to vote?
That%20should%20be%20the%20Dems%20answer%20to%20this%20bs
On MSNBC this morning, some republican was discussing the future of his party. He talked about how the party really should rely on the leadership from the republican governors. If Walker is any indication, they'll be going nowhere. I was never that impressed with Chris Christie until recently. His work with the teachers' union in Newark showed the kind of leadership the republicans should be going for, not Walker's partisan bashing of unions, voters and anyone not at the top of the food chain.
Scott Walker is a hideous blight on American politics. I cannot believe the people of Wisconsin could have thrown him out on his ass and they didn't do it. UNBELIEVABLE.
He's a royal cunt
every one should write their Senators and Reps and demand congress pass uniform federal laws to regulate national voting and registration requirements. if all states had the same laws, this suppression crap would stop. (or at least be less common). lets start a movement!
Why are they all such hideous cunts???
Is%20it%20like%20alcoholism%3F%20%20They%20have%20no%20control%3F
Because the Republican party attracts the repressed, the mean-spirited, and those that feel they need to be punished. Republicans are never free-wheeling, free-spirited types. They are always buttoned-up, annoying little cunts.
huh? when I lived in WI to register the day of you needed ID and separate proof of address. seems pretty straightforward to me...
I worked at the polls on election day in Wisconsin and registered dozens of people. Some people didn't have an acceptable proof of current address with them, and we encouraged them to them to come back with something we could use. I didn't see any attempts at fraud at all, but I can only speak for my ward.
he'll be in jail soon.
300,000 Wisconsinites voted in the 2008 election. There were exactly 7 cases of voter fraud in that election, & those were committed by released felons who thought they were eligible to vote but weren't. Voter fraud is a myth perpetuated by the Republicans who are simply afraid of democracy in action. They don't have the numbers and they know it. Hence the new effort to limit voter registration.