By Roger Utnehmer
Sore losers and lame ducks are about to try to steal a Supreme Court seat, restrict voting in Wisconsin and subvert the will of the people expressed in the elections of Governor-elect Tony Evers and Attorney General-elect Josh Kaul.
Republican legislative leaders are attempting to take power away from Evers and Kaul, rig the 2020 Supreme Court race to favor a conservative justice and make it more difficult for Wisconsin citizens to vote. The special legislative session starting Tuesday should be repudiated as the unconstitutional power grab that it is.
Legislators have drawn district boundaries so that less than 10% of the 132 districts in Wisconsin are competitive. That gives incumbents the advantage of protection and perpetuates the party in power. And years earlier, Democrats were just as corrupt when they had the power to draw district boundaries.
Legislative leaders have stated publicly that spending $7 million of taxpayer money to move a Supreme Court election to March will benefit their conservative candidate. Combined with their effort to further restrict absentee voting, Republican legislators are shamefully making it more difficult for people to vote. Democracy is better served when more people participate in the process, not less.
Restricting the power of a newly-elected governor as Republicans propose reeks of being sore losers. The same kind of power grab in North Carolina was ruled unconstitutional.
The special legislative session should be canceled. Legislators need to respect the will of the people who elected Evers and Kaul.
And at the very least they should leave legislating to regular sessions when the process is transparent and deliberative.
Roger Utnehmer is President and CEO of DoorCountyDailyNews.com, and a member of Common Cause in Wisconsin's State Governing Board.
No comments:
Post a Comment