When the Washington Post reported a nearly 74 percent voter-turnout rate in 2004, Wisconsin voters had reason to be proud. Second only to Minnesota in turnout, Wisconsinites demonstrated an admirable desire to influence national politics and exercise their constitutional rights.
Their participation produced a turnout 14 percent above the national rate, a real feat considering the national figures were at their highest since Richard Nixon faced Hubert Humphrey in 1968.
Experts at the Committee for the Study of the American Electorate attributed high turnout rates to divided opinions about the Bush administration and Wisconsin's status as a battleground state. With such a heated political atmosphere in the country, turnout could and should be just as high in the upcoming elections.
Unfortunately, a bill recently introduced in the state legislature could rob Wisconsin of these bragging rights and significantly reduce the number of voters who participate in its election process.
The bill, introduced by Rep. Suzanne Jeskewitz, R-Menomenee Falls, and Senator Tom Reynolds, R-West Allis, would end same-day voter registration in Wisconsin. Passing this law would double the inconvenience of the voting process for the 20 percent of Wisconsin residents who chose to register on Election Day in 2004.
It is unrealistic to expect voters to sacrifice more time or energy on the voting process. Already, half of America has shown that voting is not a high enough priority to interrupt busy daily lives.
For the other half, Election Day means leaving work, skipping lunch, arranging childcare and juggling class schedules. Voters are surprisingly willing to perform these tasks in order to get to the polls, because voting is such an isolated and extraordinary event. By passing the bill, the legislature will introduce a mandatory obstacle that will encourage many of these inconvenienced voters to neglect the polls.
With poor voter turnout embarrassing the American political system over the past three decades, what would make Ms. Jeskewitz and Mr. Reynolds introduce a bill that will inevitably drive it to new lows? Overreaction to a voting audit released in September seems to be the most likely explanation.
According the Wisconsin State Journal, the audit was conducted by the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau this year. It found 3,100 voters whose names were listed multiple times on registration lists. Clearly illegitimate votes threaten the integrity of the political system, but let's keep a little perspective. When the bureau conducted the audit, the entire record included 348,000 voters. The erroneous votes constituted less than 1 percent of the state turnout.
In Madison, the registration and voting process was even cleaner. The audit found a possibility that one person may have voted twice and that one underage person may have cast a ballot. Not bad for a city of 203,211 residents, 80 percent of which reportedly voted in 2004.
While reform is necessary, it is more likely that improvements result from better training and recruitment of poll workers. The introduction of a single statewide voter registration system, now required under federal law, will also help eliminate inconsistency. Given that these reforms will substantially increase the accuracy of the voting process, it is unnecessary to inconvenience Wisconsin voters by removing this option. Especially when the likely result is losing a major portion of the state's remarkable turnout.
Passing the bill to eliminate same-day voting registration would complicate and undermine electorate resuscitation efforts in the state and throughout the rest of the country. The voting and registration process are not broken, just in need of repair. Rep. Joe Parisi, D-Madison, summed it up best: "You don't take your car to the junkyard when what it really needs is a tune-up."
Sarah Howard ([email protected]) is a junior majoring in political science and journalism.
