03/08/06 Election 'reform Day' Set For Spring; The Legislature Wraps Up
The Capital Times
Wednesday, March 8, 2006
By Anita Weier The Capital Times
The chairman of the Assembly's campaign and elections committee said today that there will be a "reform day" coming up in April or May when the Assembly will take up the merger of the Ethics and Elections boards and several other campaign reform measures.
But the committee chairman, Republican Steve Freese of Dodgeville, would not predict that Senate Bill 1 -- which would merge the two boards into a Government Accountability Board with increased enforcement capabilities -- will become law.
"It's still an uphill battle," Freese said.
Another bill that will likely be up for consideration is one proposed by Rep. Spencer Black, D-Madison, that would prohibit appointed officials from organizing election fundraisers.
The merger bill, authored by Sen. Mike Ellis, R-Neenah, and Freese, has been approved by the Senate, but as of this morning was not among the 90-plus items on the Assembly agenda for Thursday, the last day of the regular session.
But Freese said it would be considered during one of the cleanup sessions in April or May.
Another reform measures faces quicker action and a clearer chance of success. On Tuesday the Senate-approved Senate Bill 612, which Gov. Jim Doyle says contains key provisions of the election reform package he proposed last year. The Assembly has scheduled the bill for a vote on Thursday.
That bill would:
Require mandatory training for all poll workers.
Prohibit voter drives from paying individuals on a per voter or quota system.
Enact safeguards to ensure felons are not allowed to vote.
Require a map to be displayed at every polling station to help direct voters to their proper voting wards.
Require the Elections Board to conduct a post-election audit to ensure proper election procedures were followed throughout the state and make recommendations for improvements.
Use uniform registration cards statewide to streamline the processing of registration cards.
Provide an option of centralized absentee ballot counting.
"Many of the problems raised with the November 2004 election were the result of poor management and overwhelmed and inadequately trained poll workers," Doyle said.
Mike McCabe, executive director of the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, said that bill is important because problems at the polls have mainly been caused by long lines and poorly trained poll workers.
However, he is still hopeful that SB1 will somehow make it through, and Doyle also urged legislators to pass that bill.
"That would be a very important step if we could get a strong bill through both houses, but there have been plenty of efforts in the Assembly to weaken it, and it is not a foregone conclusion that they will act on it at all," McCabe said. "We have seen indications that it is likely to come to the floor but those aren't guarantees. I have watched enough reform bills be stonewalled."
The bill's focus on ethics and election enforcement is vital, said McCabe, who says he has little faith in the enforcement efforts of the current elections and ethics boards, as shown by the current prosecutions in the legislative caucus scandal. "If we had an Elections Board and Ethics Board that were functional five or more years ago, we would not have the criminal trials we have now," he said.
Another campaign-related bill that was approved by the Senate on Tuesday and sent to the Assembly was Senate Bill 564, which prohibits any county or municipality from printing more ballots prior to election day than a number greater than 150 percent of the votes cast in the most recent similar election.
The Republican-controlled Legislature also has passed bills requiring photo voter identification at the polls, but the Democratic governor has vetoed them.
McCabe questioned the need for such measures because of a lack of voter fraud in Wisconsin.
\ E-mail: aweier@madison.com