UPDATE: March 29, 2018 -- After 3 separate judges rejected Gov. Walker's desperate attempts to not call special elections, Gov. Walker abandoned his bid to ask the Supreme Court to delay the special elections. Special elections have been called for Tuesday, June 12, 2018 in Senate District 1 and Assembly District 42. The Senate also dropped its bid to change special election law to undercut judge's ruling.
March 28, 2018 -- Gov. Walker is again trying to rig democracy to his favor. Instead of obeying the rule of law and following the decisions of judge after judge after judge, Gov. Walker is using every trick in the book to get his own way. Gov. Walker is maneuvering to rush through changes to special election law.
Now, Gov. Walker is even putting the question to the highly partisan Supreme Court despite multiple judges ruling that Gov. Walker has a clear duty to obey the law and call a special election promptly.
Call your legislators 1-800-362-9472 and demand that politicians stop rushing through changes to Wisconsin’s special election law. The people have a right to representation.
Wisconsinites living in Senate District 1 -- Brown, Door, Kewaunee, and Calumet Counties -- and Assembly District 42 -- Columbia, Dodge, Fond du Lac, Green Lake, Marquette -- have been without a state representative in the legislature since December. Former elected officials Sen. Frank Lasee (R-De Pere) and Rep. Keith Ripp (R-Lodi) resigned their seats to take jobs in the Walker Administration.
Gov. Walker has been delaying and denying democracy by refusing to hold a special election for new representatives. Under Walker’s plan, voters in the area would be without a Senator or Representative for over a year. Local voters took Gov. Walker to court and on March 22, a judge ordered Gov. Walker to call a special election as soon as possible to fill the vacant seats.
Dane County Circuit Judge Josann Reynolds —appointed by Gov. Walker in 2014 — ruled that Walker has a “plain and positive” duty under state law to hold special elections so voters can have representation. Judge Reynolds stated that refusing to call special elections infringes on the voting rights of the people and gave Walker until noon on Thursday, March 29 to call the elections.
Now, Gov. Walker and Attorney General Schimel are thwarting the law and attempting to get around the judge’s ruling by appealing the decision and rushing through new bills to change special election related statutes to their favor. This is a blatant power grab and a complete disregard of democracy.
Call 1-800-362-9472 and tell your legislators to stop the attack on democracy and stop Gov. Walker’s special election power grab.
Republicans are using an extraordinary session to change state law to explicitly get around Judge Reynolds’ ruling and give Gov. Walker absolute power over when, how and whether to call a special election. The bill would remove the requirement that special elections be called promptly and bar special elections from being held after the spring election in the year the legislative seat would normally be filled.
The bill is being “fast tracked” and rushed through at crazy speed. A vote is tentative for April 4. There has been no time for public input and debate.
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