The state Senate debated a number of bills Tuesday that would change Wisconsin’s voting and campaign fundraising rules.
The two Republican-backed measures would limit the terms under which voters may submit absentee ballots, remove some reporting requirements for political organizations and allow lobbyists to contribute to political candidates more frequently.
One of the bills would restrict the hours of the day during which citizens may submit absentee ballots at polling locations.
State Sen. Robert Jauch, D-Poplar, along with other Democrats, expressed his fear that efforts to restructure absentee voting processes would make voting more difficult for many citizens.
“[The bill] digs a grave for democracy,” Jauch said.
State Sen. Glenn Grothman, R-West Bend, the author of the bill, said Jauch “impugned both [his] motives and [those of] anybody voting for this bill.” He added the bill would streamline the voting process in urban areas where polling places are often harder to reach.
Democrats also objected to a bill state Sen. Mary Lazich, R-New Berlin, introduced last week, which would remove the existing requirement that organizations involved in political campaigning publicly report all administrative costs. It would also allow lobbyists to donate more frequently to political candidates.
State Sen. Jon Erpenbach, D-Middleton, echoed others’ concerns that the bill would remove transparency in the electoral process by allowing anonymous groups to give certain legislators’ campaigns a financial leg-up.
“You are a coward if you don’t put your name on something you are financially responsible for. You’re hiding behind the freedom of speech argument,” Erpenbach said. “People want to know who’s running these ads.”
Lazich stressed her bill makes state law compliant with existing policy and said she had hoped to make her legislation bipartisan.
The state Senate rejected amendments to the bill recommended by Kevin Kennedy, executive director of the Government Accountability Board, at a committee hearing Wednesday, March 5.
The state Senate also approved nine other bills relating to elections and polling regulations.
Senate Democrats objected to the final reading of both bills, temporarily blocking their passage. The state Senate is scheduled to reconvene Wednesday to vote on the bills.
