Appleton City Clerk Char Peterson, who oversaw the registering of 4,505 voters on Election Day, has a message about the state’s law that allows residents to show up, sign up and vote on the same day: The more the merrier. “I thought we were supposed to make it easier for people to vote and not more difficult. This could be a deterrent,” said Peterson, who opposes ending same-day registration in Wisconsin — an idea Gov. Scott Walker advocated recently in a speech to a conservative group in California.
“I’m also looking out for the best interest of the city, cost-wise,” Peterson said. “The most cost-effective model is same-day registration — we couldn’t afford to do it another way.” Others in Peterson’s field agree.
They say eliminating same-day registration would cost more money and create more work for government employees.
In his speech at the Ronald Reagan Foundation, Walker said poll workers are overworked as a result of people registering to vote on Election Day.
“States across the country that have same-day registration have real problems,” Walker said. “Volunteers … work 13-hour days, it’s difficult to handle the volume of folks who come in at the last minute. It would be much better if registration was done in advance of Election Day, easier for our clerks to handle that.”
Full Article: Walker didn’t consult poll workers about ending same-day voter registration | Appleton Post-Crescent | postcrescent.com.