Dane County, Milwaukee Will Vote On Same-Day Registration

People going to the polls Tuesday will get to voice their opinion on same-day registration in the city of Milwaukee and Dane County.

The two areas of the state holding referendums supporting same day registration at the polls are Democratic strongholds, but if the practice were prohibited, voters in Republican parts of the state would be affected as well. Governor Scott Walker’s son registered the same day he voted in Wauwatosa. And in Washburn County, same-day voter registration is popular. It is also common in Dane County, says Executive Joe Parisi.

“Washburn County went overwhelmingly for Mitt Romney in the last election. Dane County, another county that utilizes same day registration in high numbers, went for Obama. So this clearly has no business being a partisan issue.”

The City of Milwaukee also has an advisory referendum on next Tuesday’s ballot supporting same-day registration. Milwaukee Election Commission Director Neil Albrecht says 20 percent of Milwaukee voters registered at the polls in the last presidential election.

“It’s very important. It’s critical to voter participation and the spirit of democracy to keep elections accessible to the public, and same-day registration is important to that process.”

Governor Walker broached the idea of ending same-day registration in a California speech to conservatives last year. He appeared to back off after the Wisconsin’s Government Accountability Board published a report saying it would cost $14 million to ensure voters could sign up to vote in other ways if registration at the polls were to end. Walker then told the Center for Investigative Journalism he would veto any such bill if it passed.

Correction: The original version of this story said that Governor Scott Walker’s son voted in Waukesha County. The son actually voted in Wauwatosa, in Milwaukee County.