Republicans in the State Assembly fell short yesterday of getting enough Democrats to cross over and override Governor Doyle's veto. This most basic step in stopping potential fraud at the polls was stopped by a governor more intent on placating his base and defending his party's hold on power than in enacting real election reform.
There was room to compromise but the governor showed no willingness to do so. He could have pushed for other forms of photo id to be accepted. He could've pushed for a more aggressive program to provide identification to state voters. Instead, he claimed (without substantiation) over 100,000 seniors in Wisconsin would be disenfranchised by the requirement. His fellow Democrats in the state legislature then chose partisanship over sound public policy and upheld their governor's veto.
Unlike Doyle's veto which occurred after everyone left for the weekend, the Republicans held the vote during the broad daylight hours of a working day to keep the issue in the public eye. The public (overwhelmingly in favor of the id requirement) has seen what the Democrats are about and should hold them accountable.
However, Republicans then turned around and started the process of amending the state constitution to add the voter id provision. As important and popular as this issue is, Republicans should back off from their attempts to amend the state constitution and instead propose an alternate set of reforms in an effort to prevent the Milwaukee debacle of 2004 from happening again. Tougher enforcement of reporting requirements, more openess in the process to the public and a toughening of the requirements for absentee ballots would be good places to start.
