Wisconsin Voters Reaffirm Election Day Registration

Voters in Madison and Milwaukee have reaffirmed the state's Election Day registration law, with an overwhelming majority supporting the practice in two advisory referendums on Tuesday's ballot. Allowing voters to register on Election Day has helped Wisconsin achieve one of the highest voter turnout rates in the country -- but some state Republicans have proposed rolling back the state's highly successful law.

Advocates say the vote on the advisory referendum sends a message to Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and legislative leaders that election day registration works well and should be retained. Around 82 percent of voters in Dane County (where Madison is located) supported Election Day registration, and 73 percent of Milwaukee voters backed it.

The Milwaukee Common Council and Dane County Board added the advisory referendums to the April 2 ballot after Governor Walker indicated support for ending election day registration in November 2011, followed by other top Republicans, including Assembly Speaker Robin Vos. Students, people of color, and the poor are most likely to register on election day -- largely because they are more likely to have moved since the last time they voted -- and proposals to end Election Day registration were considered part of the larger GOP push to rig the voting process for partisan gain.

Pew Charitable Trusts recently ranked Wisconsin as one of the highest-performing states in the nation during the 2008 and 2010 election cycles, and praised the Dairy State for allowing voters to register at the polls on election day, which has helped Wisconsin achieve the second-highest voter turnout rate in the nation. The other seven states that allow Election Day registration also rank among those with the highest turnout in the country.

In 1975, Wisconsin was one of the first states in the country to allow voters to register on election day, and in recent years others have been catching on: last year, California and Connecticut passed Election Day registration (but the laws have not yet taken effect), and fourteen other states are considering similar proposals this year.

In February, Wisconsin's Government Accountability Board estimated that ending Election Day registration could cost $14.5 million. Walker backed off his support for any measure that cost that much, but Speaker Vos questioned the cost estimate.

Tuesday's referendum votes are non-binding, but voting rights advocates hope the measure will put the nail in the coffin for proposals to end Wisconsin's Election Day registration.