Posted on 03/09/2012 9:13:20 PM PST by afraidfortherepublic
MADISON — When politicians, interest groups and judges start bickering over election legalities — from voter ID to recalls — the fallout lands squarely at Doris Dahl’s door.
“It’s just mind-boggling, I guess, all the changes and the waste of money we go through with these elections,” said Dahl, the clerk and treasurer for the town of Trempealeau. “You print something and then at the next election, it’s obsolete.”
The latest change? A temporary injunction ordered this week by Dane County Circuit Court Judge David Flanagan against a new law requiring voters to present a valid photo identification card when they want to cast a ballot.
Passed last year, the law went fully into effect in February for a small number of primary elections for non-partisan seats.
Implementation, though, has been in the works for months, including a public information campaign from the Government Accountability Board.
Clerks have been trained, new absentee ballot forms indicating the need for a photo ID have been printed and, by most accounts, the trial run in February was a success.
Now, the voter ID law is in question.
“It just seems like the changes are just continuously dropped down on us,” said Rosemary Bohm, who has been the Shawano County clerk since 1991.
The injunction would keep the voter ID law from being in effect for the April 3 spring election and presidential primary — unless a higher court overturns the temporary injunction.
The state Department of Justice plans to appeal the ruling.
Parties on both sides of the lawsuit say voter ID is an important issue.
Republicans contend that requiring people to show a valid ID to vote is another step in ensuring the integrity of elections.
Democrats and their allies say the new law makes voting too difficult for some people who may not have easy access to acceptable IDs, including students, seniors and some minorities.
Three lawsuits have been filed against the voter ID law.
On Tuesday, Flanagan ruled that the Milwaukee branch of the NAACP and the immigrant-rights group Voces de la Frontera probably would win the case on its merit, and irreparable harm would be done if the law was put into practice.
Conservatives quickly noted that Flanagan may have a conflict of interest in the case. The judge signed a petition to recall Gov. Scott Walker , who is one of the defendants named in the voter ID lawsuit.
The Republican Party of Wisconsin has filed a complaint with the Wisconsin Judicial Commission, asking for an investigation into whether Flanagan could be an impartial judge in the voter ID case.
That, though, is the political battle in Madison.
Clerks around the state, meanwhile, have a situation of their own.
It’s one in which they wait for the latest instructions regarding how the next election will be run, print public information that might not be valid in a few weeks or months, and plan yearly budgets that may fall far short of the year’s expenses, depending on what surprise elections are held and what legal changes are ordered.
Bohm’s 2011 expenses were about $25,000 more than she planned, thanks to the unexpected addition of two Senate recalls and two recall primaries she had to oversee last year.
This year, she has budgeted for only four elections — and that doesn’t include potential recalls of Walker and Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch.
“You can’t budget for something that’s not certain,” Bohm said.
Mary Schuch-Krebs is in her first term as Kenosha County clerk.
Even with all the changes, Schuch-Krebs said, she’s still interested in the job and hopes to win re-election.
Her least-favorite change is one that allows absentee ballots to be counted up until the Friday after an election –— which means canvassing the vote twice, she said, and may mean a delay in declaring a winner in close races.
Schuch-Krebs said Wisconsin will see, in short order, a large number of county clerks and municipal clerks retiring from their jobs.
“There’s too much going on, too many changes,” she said. “And they’re too short-staffed.”
Wisconsin Harried County Clerks Ping
FReep Mail me if you want on, or off, this Wisconsin interest ping list.
Public employees subjected to the stresses we experience in our private sector jobs can’t cut it Ping.
“Democrats and their allies say the new law makes voting too difficult for some people who may not have easy access to acceptable IDs, including students, seniors and some minorities. “
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The first thing they issue to students is a STUDENT ID, including the photo on it. Seniors have an ID: AARP etc. The excuse that these groups do not have access to ID’s is absurd. The lies that Dumocraps make..
I can think of no reason, other than fraud, for anyone not wanting to present ID when voting. This business of people feeling “intimidated” when asked for ID is nothing more than BS. I’ll bet they wouldn’t refuse to present ID when cashing a welfare check.
Go to any Money Mart and every time money is being sent to you..you present an ID.
They then photocopy it..
Even the mexicans here in L.A do it to get their money and send money. Unbelievable lies that these Dems just grab out of their asses...
She also added "we don't care what those knuckle-draggers think think anyway. It would be so much more efficient to let President Obama just pick someone. Plus it would save me and my friends from having to spend all day voting a dozen times each."
What the article failed to provide is that the judge that ruled agains’t the voter ID requirements is the husband of the woman who legislated agains’t it int he first place. He should have stepped aside and given that decision to someone else. Tell me again that there is no corruption in Wisconsin’s Madistan?
Mayfair Mall, which is in the Milwaukee area, has had some issues with unruly mobs of .....ummmm kids of a certain persuasion. It's a fairly upscale mall and these sorts of outbursts have killed similar shopping malls almost overnight.
The mall instituted a policy whereby on Friday nights and weekends, no one under the age of 18 is allowed in the mall without a parent or guardian. There are guards at the main entrances checking id, and they will turn you away if you are not of age.
My oldest daughter, who was 20 at the time was shopping with her boyfriend, also 20. Because she's tiny and wears her hair long and straight, she's one of those girls who looks much younger than she is.
Although she had her college photo id with her, she didn't have her driver's license along. She was not allowed in the mall that day.
That’s an eye-opener for me. Never heard of a mall that does that. But the mall has to do what it has to do.
But these same "yutes" can vote however many times they please in our broken city, while my daughter can neither spend her own hard-earned money in peace nor have the sanctitiy of her vote assured.
LOL, the comments are a hoot. One of my best bud works for Worksource in L.A and just beside his office is the welfare office.
When I tell these stories people look at me like I made this up. I visit him 2 times per month at his work to go out for lunch and EVERY TIME I go there, the females of the ‘canadians’ start fighting. Building security couldn’t stop them so they have to call the police.
Doesn’t the Republic of Mexico maintain a consular office in or near Milwaukee, and possibly also in MadCity to provide its wandering citizens with certain essential official documentation?
We opened new DMV offices in counties that did not have them, because that was part of the fallout of the law. This involved buying new equipment, hiring and training new employees, and a slew of behind the scenes extra work for network, security, and deskside support. I’m going to be curious to see what happens to that. It was all accomplished on time, in a very short time frame, without grousing, by public employees. I realize the stereotype is that we public employees are slackers who couldn’t get a “real job” elsewhere. In many cases, that’s true. But, once in a while, open your mind to the possibility that sometimes, some public employees do one heck of a good job providing the services you don’t even think about.
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