More than two dozen Assembly Republicans have asked the Legislature’s budget-writing committee to consider approving money to educate the public on the state’s law requiring voters to show photo identification. The names of 34 Assembly Republicans appeared on a letter dated Thursday and addressed to Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, and Rep. John Nygren, R-Marinette, who head the state’s Joint Finance Committee. Twenty-eight of the lawmakers whose names appear on the letter attached their signatures. The letter asks the two lawmakers to schedule a meeting to consider a May 10 request made by the Government Accountability Board to spend $250,000 to re-start a public information campaign authorized in 2011 when the law was passed but was stopped in 2012 after a lawsuit blocked implementation of the law until this year.
The request comes amid a trial for a federal lawsuit challenging the voter ID requirement and other recent changes to Wisconsin election law.
The voter ID requirement took effect this year, starting with the Feb. 16 spring primary election and followed by the April 5 spring election and presidential primary.
The lawmakers asked Darling and Nygren to consider their request “a top priority” because of an anticipated “record number” of votes being cast in the November general election. A spokesman for Darling and a spokeswoman for Nygren did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Full Article: 34 Republicans ask budget committee to fund voter ID education campaign | Politics and Elections | host.madison.com.