The Legislature’s budget committee Monday approved spending $250,000 for a public education campaign on the controversial voter ID law. The campaign, details of which still must be settled by the new Elections Commission, would inform the public about the need to bring a valid photo ID to vote in the upcoming fall primary and general elections. The money would pay for radio and television public service announcements, website ads, online videos and possibly ads at movie theaters, on buses and on social media. The campaign includes English and Spanish ads newspapers can run, but doesn’t include funds for print ads, spokesman Reid Magney said. The committee passed the motion unanimously with one member absent after addressing concerns raised by a Republican lawmaker that the campaign would be a “waste of money” because most people already know about the law.
Rep. Dean Knudson, R-Hudson, said a more targeted direct-mail education campaign could be done for half the cost of a television ad campaign. About 1.4 million registered voters have not yet voted in an election where voter ID was required, according to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau. “How hard is it to just say let’s identify those people and send them a letter?” Knudson said. “This law is well-known already.”
Rep. Chris Taylor, D-Madison, disagreed that sending a single letter constitutes “a campaign” as required by the 2011 voter ID law. “Doing one mail piece is not a campaign,” Taylor said. “Would we ever do our campaigns mailing out one piece of mail?”
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