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January 17, 2012
ROGER BYBEE, IN THESE TIMES
MILWAUKEE—Wisconsinites' efforts to protect democracy—in the workplace and through the ballot—are rapidly escalating on two key fronts. The state will soon witness major election and legal battles to combat Walker-supported laws limiting the rights of public workers and restricting voting booth access. Laws passed in 2011 virtually eliminate public-employee bargaining rights and restrict voting to those with approved IDs, which could potentially disenfranchise tens of thousands of state residents.
"First you take away workers’ rights, then you change the laws so that it’s hard for them to vote you out of office," said Scot Ross, director of One Wisconsin Now, a progressive media-focused group.
On Tuesday, the United Wisconsin coalition of labor and the Democratic Party delivered petitions—signed by about 1 million Wisconsin residents, at least some of which likely voted for Walker— calling for a recall election for the governor. Only 540,208 valid signatures are required to trigger such an election.
Walker is expected to face a Democratic opponent sometime this spring. His lieutenant governor and four Republican senators are also likely to face recall votes.
Only two governors have been recalled in U.S. history, but Walker’s high unfavorability ratings—58% of Badger State residents support his recall-—suggest that his head could become the third to roll.
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January 12, 2012
SCOTT KEYES, THINK PROGRESS
If voting legislation in 2011 centered largely on hindering access to the ballot box, 2012 will hopefully be defined as the year that voting rights began fighting back.
Last year, a rash of anti-voting legislation popped up in states around the country, from Florida to Texas to Wisconsin. New laws banning anyone without photo IDs from voting (commonly known as “voter ID”) grabbed the headlines, in part because of their potential to disenfranchise over 3 million citizens in the 2012 election, but lesser-known legislation emerged as well. This included shortening early voting periods, permanently disenfranchising felons no longer in prison, trying to remove voters’ ability in some states to register on election day, and making it more difficult for outside groups like League of Women Voters to register citizens.
Reeling from 2011′s setbacks, lawmakers in a number of states are introducing legislation this year to recoup many of those voting rights that were taken away. Courtesy of Project Vote, here is a rundown of some of the state legislation being introduced that will improve, rather than hinder, access to the polls:
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December 27, 2011
COOPER LEVEY-BAKER, THE FLORIDA INDEPENDENT
The story:
During the 2011 legislative session, The Florida Independent’s Travis Pillow captured state Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, defending new voting restrictions in unusually direct language. “Do you read the stories about the people in Africa?” Bennett asked, continuing:
The people in the desert, who literally walk two and three hundred miles so they can have the opportunity to do what we do, and we want to make it more convenient. How much more convenient do you want to make it? Do we want to go to their house? Take the polling booth with us? This is a hard-fought privilege. This is something people die for. You want to make it convenient? The guy who dies to give you that right, it was not convenient. Why would we make it any easier? I want ‘em to fight for it. I want ‘em to know what it’s like. I want them to go down there, and have to walk across town to go over and vote.
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