WI: Opinion: Wisconsin court election courts disaster – Richard L. Hasen – POLITICO.com
With a razor-thin 204-vote lead, Democratic state assistant attorney general JoAnne Kloppenburg has declared victoryover Republican incumbent David Prosser in the race for Wisconsin state Supreme Court justice. A recount in this race, which some view as a referendum on Gov. Scott Walker’s anti-union policies, seems inevitable, and it is not clear who will ultimately take the seat on the Wisconsin bench. But if this expensive and nasty race ends up in protracted litigation, it could undermine public confidence in both the judiciary and Wisconsin’s electoral process, especially if, as I expect, supporters of Prosser raise ugly allegations of voter fraud. To begin with, these days any statewide election within a few hundred votes will likely be within the margin of litigation. Since the 2000 election and dispute over the razor-thin margin separating George W. Bush and Al Gore for the Florida vote, and therefore the U.S. presidency, litigating the outcome of close elections has become a regular feature of U.S. political life. Whether the 2004 governor’s race in Washington State between Dino Rossi and Christine Gregoire, the 2008 Senate race in Minnesota pitching Al Franken against Norm Coleman or the 2010 Senate race in Alaska between Lisa Murkowski and Joe Miller, close elections bring out intense partisan fighting and, often from the Republican side, allegations of fraud or voting irregularities. While the fraud allegations remain stuck in the public’s mind, no proof of any systemic fraud has been unearthed. Instead, close examination of elections show, time and again, that our election systems are not perfect – but this is due to human error and not fraud. Full Article
MT: New Montana bill ending Election Day voter registration might hurt state GOP – KBZK.com
The state legislature has passed a bill ending Election Day voter registration. The last day voters could now register is the Friday before an election. The Republican sponsored House Bill 180 passed largely on party lines Monday. Long held political thought says blocking same day registration benefits the G.O.P. But new research calls that into question. The general argument put forth around the issue goes like this: Republicans say allowing voters to register on Election Day can lead to fraud; Democrats argue we should be trying to get as many citizens as possible to vote–and same day voter registration helps. This issue, though, is often seen as having a deeper partisan motive. “Anything you do to try to make it easier for people to turn out, theoretically the conventional wisdom states it should help Democrats,” said MSU Political Science Professor, Dr. David Parker. Conversely anything making the process more difficult should help Republicans. But Parker said a study released last year by the University of Wisconsin found a different conclusion. Full Article
Read the University of Wisconsin Report (pdf)
