Interesting turn of events. Walker is backing off of killing same-day voter registration in Wisconsin. However if we look closely, we’ll note that his hesitancy is rooted in the expense of the change, not in respect for the right to vote.
Gov. Scott Walker said Wednesday he wouldn’t support a bill repealing same-day voter registration if it would cost taxpayers up to $5 million or more.
[Wisconsin's Government Accountability Board put out a report that estimated the expense of the change to be $5.2 million.]
“There’s no way I’m signing a bill that would cost that much money,” Walker said at Virent, a renewable resources company, in Madison.
That came from a WI S. Journal piece. When I read his quote I felt pretty disbelieving. I kept on reading and found that Representative Jon Richards of Milwaukee feels about the same:
“We can’t claim victory for voters or the taxpayers until Gov. Walker promises to veto any bill that ends or curtails same-day voter registration,” Richards said in a statement. “He needs to shut the door on this issue once and for all.”
If we look to the bottom-feeding faux press that props up Walker, we see other signs that all is not not quiet on this front.
Brian Fraley wrote an anti-G.A.B. screed on December 11th for Red State that dismisses the G.A.B. as a “cover your ass” agency that doesn’t really need $5.2 million to carry out the repeal of same-day registration. Money for PR to explain a radical change in registration practices? More staff to handle the workload that will inevitably be created by provisional ballots and more? Fraley says the G.A.B. just does not need it.
So if you can just reduce the price-tag of this, then …. well perhaps things might change back. It wouldn’t technically be a Walker flip-flop because he told us he just can’t justify paying the pricetag that G.A.B. quoted. Then Walker gets to be his good ole unwaivering self.
Tricky ain’t it?
The last time Fraley’s name popped up on this blog he was being questioned about handling the Orwellian “It’s working” TV capaign for Scott Walker – but not really for Scott Walker since his name wasn’t mentioned. That was Koch money funneled through AFP and delivered to MacIver Institute.
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