John Peterson has the story on the GOP war against representative democracy, and I wish this were hyperbole, as the GOP currently is circulating eight election-related bills (memos until April 25), as the party of Scott Walker seems to have forgotten Walker's 250,000 jobs pledge, and instead is focusing on rigging elections.
The GOP bills would, as has been noted around the Capitol, eviscerate local control over elections with a host of GOP mandates onto local communities.
For example, the GOP has long systemically lied about voter impersonation fraud.
Yet, the GOP wants to hit early voting (AB 54) in an effort to impede voters in one bill, though this list of early voters in a given election presents an easily verifiable paper trail, and for a hypothetical voter impersonator an indictable record.
The GOP does not care about voter impersonation fraud (it doesn't exist); it cares about obstructing voters in an effort to grab more power over voters and local communities.
This flurry of GOP control over our local polling places continues a rapacious power grab by the GOP, with little editorial comment around the state.
Currently, eight memos are circulating for more GOP mandates and micromanagement of community control of the polling place. Here's one:
CO-SPONSORSHIP MEMORANDUM
DATE: April 11, 2013
TO: All Legislators
FROM: Senator Mary Lazich
RE: Co-Sponsorship of LRB−0123, equal party representation at polling places
DEADLINE: April 25, 2013 at 5:00PM
Under current law, polling places are staffed by election inspectors nominated by the two major political parties. This ensures each party has trusted workers at each polling place in case problems arise.
This bill requires, insofar as practical, each party have representation on each specific job within the polling place for each job requiring two or more people.
Please respond to this email or contact my office at 6-5400 by April 25, 2013 at 5:00 PM to sign on to this legislation.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
Currently, polling places are staffed principally by election inspectors. Unless
a municipality decides to increase or decrease the number of inspectors, there are
seven inspectors at each polling place. With certain exceptions, the individuals who
are appointed as inspectors at a polling place are drawn from nominations submitted
by the political parties whose candidates for president or governor received the most
votes in the area served by the polling place at the preceding general election, with
the party whose candidate received the most votes entitled to fill one more position
than the other party.
This bill provides that whenever two or more inspectors are required to perform
a function within a polling place and both parties that are entitled to submit
nominees have done so, the chief inspector must assign, insofar as practicable, an
equal number of inspectors from the nominees of each party.
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