A voter advocacy group says getting rid of same day registration in Wisconsin would be a big mistake.
During a recent speech in California, Governor Walker showed support for ending the practice of allowing voters to register at the polls on Election Day. Walker cited the extra burden on poll workers as a key reason for registrations to be done in advance of an election.
However, Wisconsin League of Women Voters executive director Andrea Kaminski argues the law has done a lot of good and should be kept in place. She says the practice increases voter turnout, and also makes it easier for people to correct their information or update polling lists after they have moved.
Kaminski admits polling places can get busy, but says the League’s observers have never seen problems caused by registering on Election Day. She says most poll workers want to make sure everyone who can legally vote has the chance to do so, so she “can’t imagine that it would be a problem for them to continue to register people when the polls are open.”
Kaminski says any push to eliminate same day registration is just another attempt to fix a problem that doesn’t exist. She says the end result would only make it harder for some people to vote.
AUDIO: Andrew Beckett reports (1:11)