Yesterday during a Federal hearing, a former Wisconsin Senate GOP staffer laid bare the purely political motivations behind the new restrictive election laws in Speaker Paul Ryan’s home state. Meanwhile – thanks to House Republicans – 2016 will likely be the first presidential election where millions of voters will go to the ballot without critical protections under the Voting Rights Act. Millions of voters could be turned away unless Paul Ryan changes course and finally brings the VRA’s reauthorization to a vote.
“The events unfolding in Speaker Ryan’s backyard are further proof that the clock is ticking and the American people’s ballot access is at risk because of his refusal to bring the Voting Rights Act update to the floor for a vote,” said Jermaine House of the DCCC. “Every day more evidence surfaces of the purely political motivations behind these new measures that limit Americans’ ability to vote, and House Republicans’ refusal to act makes them complicit in this effort to block ballot access. There are just ten legislative weeks between now and Election Day for Speaker Ryan and House Republicans to do their job and protect voting rights.”
Key Highlights:
[… ] Wisconsin Republicans were “giddy” about a voter identification requirement enacted in 2011 that they saw as an opportunity to drive down Democratic turnout at the polls, a former chief of staff to a GOP state senator testified Monday in a federal trial targeting that law and others.
[…] The lawsuit targets more than a dozen changes to Wisconsin’s election law passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature and signed by Gov. Scott Walker since 2011. Two liberal advocacy groups and affected voters argue the changes are a violation the federal Voting Rights Act, the First Amendment and the equal protection clause.
[…] Their attorney, Josh Kaul, said in opening statements that evidence will show the changes create a “torturous” process making it harder to vote for college students as well as blacks, Hispanics and other minorities who tend to support Democrats.
[…]Todd Allbaugh, chief of staff at the time to then-state Sen. Dale Schultz, a Republican from Richland Center, testified about a closed-door meeting of GOP lawmakers discussing the photo ID proposal in 2011. Allbaugh said some were “giddy” and “politically frothing at the mouth” at the idea, while others sat “ashen faced.”
[…] Allbaugh testified that then-state Sen. Glenn Grothman, now representing the 6th Congressional District in eastern Wisconsin, interrupted Schultz when he expressed reservations. “What I’m concerned about is winning,” Grothman said, according to Allbaugh’s testimony.
[…]Some of the law changes being challenged include: reducing early voting from 30 days before an election to 12 days; limiting the hours it can take place and restricting early voting to one location per municipality; eliminating straight ticket voting; doing away with requiring special election deputies be assigned at high schools; and prohibiting local governments from requiring landlords to distribute voter-registration forms to new tenants.