Wisconsin Megathread v2: Hagedorn vs. Neubauer

[Virginiá]

I should also note that Vos is the one saying this and Fitzgerald (State Senate Majority Leader) was noncommittal. Lots of times Vos and much more right-wing Assembly like to try to do crazy things and then get smacked down by the State Senate. That could be the case here.

We'll just have to wait and see. North Carolina Republicans frequently file bills that are 100x as absurd and corrupt as the ones that actually tend to pass (such as the one that proposed terminating literally every single judge in the state so the legislature could then appoint all new ones), so like you said, it could just be talk.

[Virginiá]

Do they think this will help them? They do realize that low turnout special/local elections have been favoring Democrats under Trump, right? And Wisconsin stands out in this regard.

[Virginiá]

In theory, and sometimes it does work out like that, but there are just as many examples if not more of election rigging that simply cannot be overcome. Ohio and North Carolina congressional elections, for instance. Even if we could overcome that wall of corruption, there is little chance it could maintained so long as the maps are the way they are.

[Virginiá]

How the heck will they get away with this?

https://twitter.com/sbauerAP/status/1067862426580848640

Even if they try, there is no guarantee they do get away with it. As the article says, it's a little vague in the constitution but their supreme court already ruled a long time ago that redistricting is done like any other bill. Plus, Democrats probably have a good shot at flipping the state supreme court in 2020 (assuming they hold a seat next year), so they would probably reaffirm how redistricting is done if Republicans pushed it. Not to mention a chance that they would strike down a partisan gerrymander regardless of how the maps were enacted.

[Virginiá]

How long is the current in-person early voting period for Wisconsin? Is it different per county? What is being proposed here isn't really that bad, but it still speaks to the problem of the GOP changing the rules every time they feel their power is threatened.

I really think we need to start increasing the vote requirements for lame duck sessions. Require 2/3 majority to pass things until the new legislature is seated, or seat new members immediately.

Even with these shenanigans aside, it really doesn't make sense to give lawmakers who are on their way out so much power. They have no incentive to act in the people's interest, and they frequently prove that.

[Virginiá]

I don't think shortening early voting to two weeks or even moving the primary is going to help them much. They probably think it will, but it won't.  Lower-turnout elections benefit Democrats so long as Trump is in office and pissing people off, and two weeks of early voting is actually still a lot, even if notably shorter compared to what some counties offer right now.

What would really make a difference is ending same-day registration. I'm glad they haven't done that yet (although it has been considered). If they try and take away Evers' ability to veto rigged maps in 2021, that could be a big problem. We'd just have to hope the supreme court rules it unconstitutional, because if not, rip, potential Democratic majorities - indefinitely.

[Virginiá]

You should ask him if the people elected him and Republicans to rig elections and then deny doing so by playing on the ignorance of voters to the nuances of district map-making. That is the real crime of the century here. A whole decade of elections lost, and majorities that would be ruled by any sane court unconstitutional. No honest politician can deny what they have done is morally and ethically reprehensible, and corrupt at its core.

The idea of stripping power from an incoming governor of the opposition is really frustrating, but in this case, it's mostly the principle of the thing. What has been proposed so far isn't too bad afaik. It could have been much worse. But it is certainly worse than whatever labor contract stuff Democrats did in 2010.

[Virginiá]

I think Georgia had something like this a long time ago and it was ruled unconstitutional (one person one vote)

Perhaps, this will force Dems to care more about than just urbanites.

How about Republicans care more about than just hill people?

[Virginiá]

Ok, I didn't know that. Still, the email didn't seem jerky to me. He's my state senator as well but if he's terrible from your experience then that's your opinion.

Err, I mean, if he signed a gerrymandered map with the intent to lock in majorities regardless of any plausible voter backlash, I'd say he is quite literally corrupt. Same goes for every other politician out there who has done the same.

[Virginiá]

Sounds like they removed the two week early vote restriction from the bill about moving the Presidential primary to the bill the limits Governor/AG authority on lawsuits. The thought is the Republicans don't have the vote to move the primary up, but has the vote on the lawsuit limitations.

Ironically, this is the same reason Wisconsin still has same-day voter registration: they found out it was too expensive and too disruptive to end it.

That's one way to protect pro-voter policy. Make it so expensive to end it that even the professional hacks in the GOP balk at the cost

[Virginiá]

Evers' veto would result in a court drawn map, just from a Federal Judge (Obama appointee) rather than the State Supreme Court.

What about the legislative maps?

Also, even if the court-drawn maps were from a court with a majority of conservatives, I think we'd probably get something fair. Is there any precedent for a court drawing a gerrymander for the dominant party because of a divided govt? And I don't mean the court basically taking the old map and making minimal changes as a remedial map, like Texas.

[Virginiá]

Lets not get hyperbolic. It may move the state a bit more to the right, but, especially with how badly Ds want to vote, it shouldnt have a large effect to the point that it makes WI vote R when it should have voted D. The court will also have a word to say about such a law.

I'd wager that, assuming counties that had more than 2 weeks of early voting move to use the entire 2 weeks allowed, there will be almost no change in turnout. Two weeks is still a long time, and people who want to vote generally will make it happen so long as it is reasonably easy. I consider myself fiercely pro-voter in these kinds of debates and even I find it hard to argue that we need 3, 4, 5, ... weeks of early voting.

If you want an example of a really bad early voting law, look to the one (in Wisconsin) the courts overturned in 2016. That law was evil:

https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/2016/07/30/judge-strikes-down-wisconsin-voter-id-early-voting-laws/87803408/

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Not to mention the other non-early voting related measures that were struck down.

[Virginiá]

Another thing I forgot and will be important to remember going forward is that Wisconsin has one of the most powerful gubernatorial line item veto powers in the country. The courts have upheld that even cutting out letters to make new words and sentences is legit.

LOL

That seems incredibly sketchy, tbh. If a bill was sufficiently long enough, couldn't you end up crafting entire provisions unrelated to the original purpose? Like turn a budget into a voter ID repeal?

[Virginiá]

One thing I find annoying talking about politics in-depth is that it can be really hard to keep track of all the finer details of a particular pol's legacy. In this case, with Scott Walker, 8 years of scandals, power grabs, shameless selling out to corporate interests and various partisan schemes to cement GOP rule, is a lot to file away.

Here is a twitter thread that captures some of his worst moments, sources included:

https://twitter.com/brendan_fischer/status/1070331932603543553


I know partisans love to snipe at each other how the OTHERS are terrible and corrupt, and OUR way is the right way, but not every governor is a empty suit partisan hack. Scott Walker is truly one of the worst. Seemingly indifferent or incapable of understanding the concept of ethics, and no clear set of principles beyond the pursuit of power, he is the kind of governor that no one should want, regardless if he's on your "team" or not. He embodies almost everything people say they hate about politicians. And most of all, he is completely and utterly untrustworthy.

[Virginiá]

Most recent example of why states should be banned from offering these kinds of corporate bribes. It's a race to the bottom, and state/local politicians can't be trusted to put the people's interests above their own.

[Virginiá]

Off-Topic but doesn't $164 million for a high school sound absurdly expensive? Even considerable costs for high schools in Virginia (link) come up at just half that amount.