1/05/06: Law Ensures Voting Paper Trail

WNPJ member group the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign is featured in this Capital Times story:

Law Ensures Voting Paper Trail

The Capital Times :: FRONT :: 3A
Thursday, January 5, 2006
By Anita Weier The Capital Times

Gov. Jim Doyle signed into law Wednesday a bill that will require that touch screen voting machines produce a verifiable paper ballot.

The bill requires that if a municipality uses an electronic voting system that consists of a voting machine, the machine must generate a complete paper ballot showing all votes cast by each elector that is visually verifiable by the elector before he or she leaves the machine.

"This is important for democracy. Voters have to be able to trust that their votes are counted," Mike McCabe, executive director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, said after the bill signing.

The bill, AB 627, also will ensure that reliable recounts can be done, added McCabe, whose organization lobbied for its enactment.


Doyle thanked Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Madison, and Rep. Steve Freese, R-Dodgeville, who authored the bill, as well as co-sponsors Sen. Jeff Plale, D-South Milwaukee, and Sen. Tim Carpenter, D-Milwaukee, for their work on the bill.

Other legislation signed by Doyle included AB 522, which requires a court to examine the criminal records of step-parents, boyfriends/girlfriends or roommates of parents or potential custodians before awarding custody of a child.

"This bill is an important step in protecting our children," Doyle said. "It requires the court to consider the records of everyone who will be involved."

\ E-mail: aweier@madison.com