This morning’s ugly vote to restrict in-person early voting has nothing to do with making election rules uniform across the state and everything to do with Scott Walker’s vulnerability in the fall.
Although Walker has had a comfortable lead over Democrat Mary Burke in a recent Marquette poll, a Rasmussen poll released today shows them tied 45%-45%.
See, the GOP-dominated Legislature already secured their seats in the election through gerrymandering. They picked their constituents and drew their districts around them.
Walker, who has to win a statewide race, isn’t so lucky.
The solution? Implement the most stringent voter ID law in the country (which has been blocked by the courts), then chip away at voting rights of urban residents, minority voters, students, and the elderly. Then, try to empower partisan electoral workers and poll “watchers” to ensure that voting becomes a hassle on Election Day. And, for good measure, throw a bone or two to shadowy electioneering groups and lobbyists.
The latest round of election bills is the Republican majority’s last-ditch attempt to boost Walker’s chances at the polls. (Well, there may be one more chance, if Walker calls a special session to ram through some sort of voter ID law if the courts don’t rule as he wishes.)
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The spate of voter suppression bills shows that the state GOP doesn’t seem to have much confidence in their leader. Their internal polling must be showing some Walker vulnerability, perhaps on his lack of job creation, or they’re afraid that he’ll be doing a perp walk before November. Who knows—perhaps they’re trying to run up the score in November to provide a bigger boost his presidential aspirations so he’ll quit early and leave the state.
Either way, this is no way to govern. It’s ugly and anti-democratic and corrupt.
