What was particularly devastating was that the law was ordered into effect by a court only two weeks before the 2016 election. Even those who knew of the change had little time to correct their lack of paperwork, even if they could.
2020 Mail-In MeltdownBut this is about 2020. Despite all the trickery, Walker was tossed out on his keister in 2018. New Democratic Gov. Tony Evers encouraged by his Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes has tried to make it easier for Wisconsinites to vote without dropping dead from the virus.
The GOP won't have it. Republicans went to court to successfully overturn Governor Evers's order waiving the requirement that absentee ballots include a witness signature.
Elections Commissioner Ann Jacobs pointed out to me that the university could simply issue ID that allows students to vote " but, she noted, just before he lost reelection, Republican Governor Walker appointed the university regents GOP hacks who wouldn't dream of minting tens of thousands of Democratic voters.
But students will have to get more than a new ID. Wisconsin is alone in the U.S. in requiring that a student voter can't register without including proof of enrollment in good standing. Like, huh? Fall behind in tuition, flunk algebra" lose your vote?
The standard student ID at only four of the University of Wisconsin's 13 four-year schools and at eight of the state's 23 private colleges can be used as a voter photo ID.
Note: if you use a school-issued ID for voting, you must also present (or display electronically) at the polls a separate proof of enrollment document, such as an enrollment verification form, class schedule or tuition bill.
And the student will have to include photocopies of their paper chase in their absentee ballot.
Assuming they get one. The U.S. watched in horror as Wisconsin voters were forced to vote in person on April 7 at the height of a virus spike when the Republicans overturned the governor's order to delay the vote. But why didn't voters simply vote by mail?
They tried. First, you can't mail in a ballot if you don't get one. About one in 10 ballots requested nationwide are never received by the voter -- or received too late. That's national. Students and renters who move in their neighborhoods, within their dorms, don't have an easy time getting their mail-in ballots; over 100,000 could not get a ballot because, unbeknownst to the voter, they had been purged from the voter rolls, a purge that centered, once again, on Milwaukee and Madison.
We spoke with voters (mostly African Americans) in line, and voter after voter said they did not receive their mail-in ballot. Milwaukee was forced to reduce the number of voting stations from 180 to five because they simply couldn't find enough poll workers, mostly retirees, who would risk their lives to hand out ballots. Add the withholding of mail-in ballots to the closure of polls and you've got electoral meltdown.
61,274 Voters ShaftedUniversity of Wisconsin professors Michael DeCrescenzo and Kenneth Mayer wanted to find out about the mysterious massive drop in 2016 turnout. They conducted an extraordinary survey, contacting thousands of non-voters directly. They asked each registrant why they did not, or could not, vote.
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