Three state agencies charged with implementing voter ID for the Nov. 4 election say they have no additional money set aside to help voters and state workers comply with the newly reinstated requirement. But municipal clerks in Wisconsin’s two largest cities say they will spend thousands of dollars and hire hundreds of poll workers in the next few weeks to ensure that voters have the proper government-issued photo identification when casting their ballots. Spokesmen for the three state agencies — the Government Accountability Board, the Division of Motor Vehicles and the Department of Health Services — all say they are using existing staff and resources to handle the demand. In addition, the accountability board says it has no money for a public information or outreach campaign to ensure voters are aware of the requirement. GAB spokesman Reid Magney said the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee has asked the agency to develop a budget request by Sept. 30, which it will consider at its quarterly meeting sometime after that.
Gov. Scott Walker’s spokeswoman, Laurel Patrick, said the state — which fought a long legal battle to have the stalled requirement put back into force — has no estimate of how much it will cost to implement voter ID.
But she said her office has worked “extensively” with the DMV, which issues IDs, the state health department, which handles Wisconsin birth certificates, and the GAB, which runs elections, to ensure that voters without proper identification can get it.
Full Article: State has no budget for voter ID, agencies say.