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The Journal Sentinel's Craig Gilbert explores political trends in a purple state and beyond.

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  1. If you can't plan ahead just a little, then you are a nit-wit. Here's a reminder for said nit-wits--the 2012 Presidential election is in less than 2 years. Might want to register soon. Oh, and get an ID.
  2. I want to get rid of same-day registration. It opens the door to fraud, and creates longer lines at the polls. While the fraud may not be widespread, when the vote count is close, the fraud could make all the difference.

    We also need to make people register 6 months in advance for their party primary. This whole thing of "I show up on primary day and decide to vote Republican or Democrat" is just plain dumb and does nothing for party building. Furthermore, there are idiots at the polls on primary day going, "what do you mean I can't vote for Barrett and Walker, what a dumb rule." It is undermining the primary system and making it difficult for moderates in assembly and senate races to make it through when the other party has a hot primary at the top of the ticket.
  3. Photo ID means people using same day registration are already proving
    who they are.
  4. Nice to see lawyers from waukesha trying to mess things up even

    The voter is supposed to be more important that party when people

    Thus they get to pick their party.

    Both parties got together and ended when people could pick who they
    thought the best people were from either party (meaning if you wanted
    to vote for one guy in one party for one office you and vote for another
    guy in a different party you could to).

    Why did parties end this?

    Because they wanted people to care more about voting for a party than
    for a decent candidate.
  5. I like being able to pick which party I vote in.

    It makes voters more important than parties.

    The way it used to be was that you could pick one person per office in
    a primary regardless of party-this let voters pick who they thought the
    best people were no matter what party.
  6. Requiring Photo ID at the polls = good idea.

    Eliminating same day registration = really bad idea.
  7. Voting is sacred. It needs to be treated with its own set of rules. And those rules should make it as easy to vote as possible. This is especially so in light of so many efforts by Republicans and conservatives to disqualify voters, here and across the country.

    We have not come as far as we would like to think from the days when white electors would ask black voter applicants, "How many bubbles in a bar of soap?"

    My favorite trick fromr ecent years is GOP operatives running voter lists against U.S. mail delivery. Did you ever think you'd see Republicans standing up in public and touting the efficiency of the postal system?

    Voter fraud? Not a real issue. Unless you're looking for any hook you can to disenfgranchise people who may not vote the way you think is best and proper.
  8. RidgeRunner - we are making up for the supposed "sins" of the past by now allowing people to vote as often as they like in each election.
  9. I am a Republican and am for voter ID, but against eliminating same day registration. I've already had two instances where I was registered, went to vote and I didn't show up on the voter rolls. Under the propsed system, I assume I would not be able to vote.

    Requiring ID eliminates 95% of fraud. I think the Reps are overreaching here.
  10. Ridgerunner, no voter fraud ??? Explain, in detail, why there were THOUSANDS more people registered to vote in Milwaukee county than ELIGIBLE voters ??

    THAT is the really "disenfgranchise"ment, not the made up variety from 2000 and 2004 that Democrats STILL bring up.

    Only one, YES ONE, group of people were disenfranchised from voting in 2000, 2004 or 2008. That ONE group were overseas military personnel.


More about this blog

The Wisconsin Voter is a blog about elections, political trends and public opinion in Wisconsin and the Upper Midwest. It is less about politicians than the people who elect them. It’s aimed at political junkies and general readers alike. Its subjects include:

  • The role this state and region play as electoral battlegrounds.
  • Voting patterns and trends at the local, state and regional level.
  • What makes voters here different from voters in other places.
  • Public opinion and the election climate.

Craig Gilbert is the Journal Sentinel's Washington, D.C. Bureau Chief and national political reporter.

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Wisconsin Trend Tracker

Charting how each of Wisconsin’s 72 counties has trended politically compared to the U.S. as a whole over 60 years of presidential voting. Use the pull down menu to see charts for individual counties. Click here for an explanation of how the charts were done and how to read them.

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