Election Day 2014: Informational Voter Guide

Don’t forget to vote tomorrow!

There will be a lot of items on your ballot on Election Day, including the hotly contested gubernatorial race between Governor Scott Walker and Mary Burke. In addition, the lieutenant governor, every member of the state Assembly, state senators from odd-numbered districts, the state treasurer, attorney general and secretary of state are all up for election tomorrow. On the federal level, there is no U.S. Senate race this year, but every member of the U.S. House of Representatives is up for re-election.

There is also a state constitutional amendment to establish a state transportation fund in the constitution and specify that any money deposited in the fund may only be used for transportation-related purposes. The Government Accountability Board has prepared an informational document on the referendum here.  Several counties throughout the state are voting on referendum questions concerning the minimum wage and Medicaid expansion.

Here are some important things to remember before you head to the polls:

Voter ID

On Thursday, October 9, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an order blocking implementation of Wisconsin’s voter ID law.  As a result, voters will not be required to show a photo ID at the polls on Election Day.   For up-to-date information on the state’s voter ID law, visit www.bringit.wi.gov.

Polling Place Hours

Polls are open from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m.

Finding Your Polling Place

To find your polling place and see what will be on your ballot, visit https://myvote.wi.gov/

Registering at the Polls

If you are not registered to vote at your current address or have changed your name since the last election, you may register at the polls on Election Day. When you arrive at your polling place, you will need to fill out a voter registration form and provide proof of residence. Acceptable forms of proof of residence must contain the voter’s name and current address. Some examples of acceptable proof of residence documents are: a current and valid Wisconsin driver’s license, a bank statement, a paycheck, a residential lease that is in effect on Election Day, a utility bill issued within the last 90 days. For a full list of acceptable proof of residence documents, please visit www.gab.wi.gov/voters.

Wisconsin law requires voters to reside at their current address for at least 28 days to be eligible to vote at that address. If you have not lived at your current address for 28 days, you may still vote from your previous address.

If you have any questions about voting in Wisconsin, you can contact:

The Government Accountability Board Help Desk: 608-261-2028.

Assembly Republicans Release Legislative Agenda

The Assembly Republican Caucus held a press conference last week to unveil their 2015 Legislative Agenda.  Included in the proposed agenda are several educational initiatives. Specifically, Assembly Republicans are renewing their commitment to school choice, increased school accountability standards and replacing the Common Core with Wisconsin-specific academic standards.

The Rural Schools Task Force is mentioned and the agenda says that Assembly Republicans will “move forward with options that will make the most comprehensive and meaningful impact for rural schools, including increasing access to important classes through a state-funded digital learning portal.”

In the print version of the “Forward Agenda”, the following summary is provided of the Assembly Republicans’ plan:

Expand Public School Open Enrollment and School Choice Reform. Whether a public or

private education is preferred by a K-12 parent in Wisconsin, the most important component

of the system is making sure there is a choice. Parents and students across the state have

different goals and expectations for what a quality educational path needs to be. Choosing a

school is a personal decision and we will put the control in parents’ hands, not state bureaucracy.

Accountability for All Schools Receiving Tax Dollars. Last session, the Legislature took the

first step toward providing meaningful school accountability for our students and taxpayers.

Incentivizing excellence in growth and performance, while taking corrective measures against failing

schools is the course toward bringing all schools above the line for K-12 students in Wisconsin.

Wisconsin-based Model Academic Standards. Wisconsin schools are better with

Wisconsin-based academic standards. We will support the creation of state-based model

standards and the continued system of local control over schools.

Support for Rural Schools. The Speaker’s Task Force on Rural Schools marked an important

step forward in bringing to light challenges that are unique to smaller, rural schools.

Through the work of the Task Force, we reached out to teachers, principals and parents

to develop ideas with informed, practical and achievable solutions. We will move forward

with the options that will make the most comprehensive and meaningful impact for rural

schools, including increasing access to important classes through a state-funded

digital learning program.

The full plan is available here

Voter ID Requirement Blocked

The voter ID requirement has once again been blocked, this time by the U.S. Supreme Court on a 6-3 vote to stay a lower court’s ruling.  The vote overrides the 7^th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals decision that ruled the law as constitutional and had put the requirement back into effect in the past few weeks.  The state now has 90 days to appeal the appellate court’s decision to the U.S. Supreme Court which will then either take up the case or turn down the appeal.

At this point it seems highly unlikely that the voter ID requirement will be put back in place for the upcoming general election, although Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen has said that he will continue to work to defend the law and hopes to have it in place by November 4^th.

Wisconsin State Journal: U.S. Supreme Court blocks implementation of Voter ID in Wisconsin

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: U.S. Supreme Court blocks Wisconsin voter ID law

Voter ID Informational Resources from the GAB

Update: The voter ID requirement has been blocked by the U.S. Supreme Court.  Please see October 10th  post for more information.

As you have most likely heard, the state’s voter ID requirements will be in effect for the November 4 general election. This means that voters will need to present poll workers with an acceptable form of photo ID in order to cast a ballot on election day. If you are voting absentee, you must provide the municipal clerk with a copy of your photo ID along with your absentee ballot application if you are requesting a ballot by mail, or present your photo ID to the clerk’s office if you are voting in-person absentee (early voting).

The following photo IDs are acceptable for voting purposes, and can be unexpired or expired after the date of the most recent general election:

o A Wisconsin DOT-issued driver license, even if driving privileges are revoked or suspended

o A Wisconsin DOT-issued identification card

o Military ID card issued by a U.S. uniformed service

o A U.S. passport book or card

Other types of IDs are also acceptable but must be unexpired. To see the full list, click here.

The Wisconsin Department of Transportation is providing free state ID cards for voting. To learn about getting a free Wisconsin ID card, please visit the Wisconsin Department of Transportation website:http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/drivers/drivers/apply/idcard.htm.

The Government Accountability Board has launched a new website to help voters better understand the new photo ID requirements for voting and what they’ll need to bring with them to the polls on November 4.  Take a look at Bring it to the Ballot for comprehensive information on voter ID:  http://www.bringit.wi.gov/

In-person Absentee Voting

If you are planning on voting early at your municipal clerk’s office, you may do so from October 20 to October 31. Weekend voting is no longer permitted in Wisconsin, so clerks’ offices can only provide voters with a ballot Monday-Friday, during normal business hours.

Finding your polling place and seeing who is on your ballot

To find your polling place and see what will be on your ballot, follow this link.

State of Education Address

State Superintendent Tony Evers delivered his annual State of Education address yesterday.

In his speech Superintendent Evers highlighted the work of the Speaker’s Task Force on Rural Schools this past session.  He plans to work towards passing legislation this coming session that will support rural schools, including assisting with improved broadband and technology. 

Superintendent Evers also promises to introduce the Fair Funding for Our Future package again and stressed the importance of action being taken in the budget for school funding reform.  One of the main objectives of the package is to return state aid to the two-thirds funding commitment as well as appropriately adjusting the formula for such factors as poverty, rural districts and those with declining enrollment.  There would be an increase in state general equalization aid to all school districts under the proposal.

Other highlights include Wisconsin’s heightened academic standards, the implementation of Smarter Balanced and ACT tests as new student assessments, a new statewide educator effectiveness system as well as the success of the school report cards.  Evers also launched Promoting Excellence for All which is to serve as a resource for closing the achievement gap in Wisconsin.

Superintendent Evers: Big year for Wisconsin public schools

Department of Public Instruction Submits Budget Request

State agencies submitted their 2015-17 budget requests to the Department of Administration on Monday, September 15. The governor will use these requests to craft his or her 2015-17 state budget, which will be introduced in February or March of 2015.

State Superintendent Tony Evers will be submitting his budget request in two parts. The first, which he submitted on Monday, September 15, focuses on school safety and technology. The second part, which will focus on overall school funding, will be released in November.

“To address a growing digital divide, my proposals related to technology and libraries would ensure that all students and teachers-no matter where they live in the state—would have equitable access to high quality digital learning tools and content,” writes Superintendent Evers in his request. 

Major funding items that may be of interest, include:

WISElearn/Digital Learning Portal and E-Publication Grants: DPI is requesting an additional $2,060,000 in the first year of the biennium and $2,945,000 in the second year of the biennium to continue its development of the WISElearn, which includes the Digital Learning Portal, professional learning platform, learning management system, content repository, collaboration tools, and curricular content; as well as to provide funding for regional technical support centers. This funding will also support a matching grant program to provide e-publications to both school and public libraries as part of WISElearn. DPI believes that one-to-one matching grants to consortia purchasing e-publications would incentivize libraries to participate in consortia, which are designed to provide a lower cost method for purchasing these resources through volume purchasing and economies of scale. Consortia also facilitate sharing these resources across any participating public library or school district.

It is important to note that when discussing the ongoing development of the digital learning portal, DPI says that “the Department intends to take advantage of the existing skill base in digital learning of school library media specialists and school librarians to collaborate with instructional technology educators, classroom educators, and administrators to build a solid basis of support for this development.” To see the detailed WISElearn plan, please review pages 155-164 of this document.

Public Library System Aid: DPI is requesting an increase of $13,879,500 in the first year of the biennium and $14,168,400 in the second year of the biennium for state aid to the public library system. This would bring overall funding for the public library system to $28,892,600 in the first year of the biennium and $29,181,500 in the second year.

Badgerlink: DPI is requesting an increase of $486,400 in the first year of the biennium and $546,800 in the second year of the biennium to fund BadgerLink and the College and Career Ready Digital Modules and maintain the current level of services. This brings the total funding of BadgerLink to roughly $3 million in each year of the budget.

School Library Aids: DPI estimates that base level funding for school library aids will be $34 million in each year of the budget.

Wisconsin School Safety Center: DPI is requesting $700,000 in each year of the budget to establish the Wisconsin School Safety Center (WSSC) to provide guidance to schools on school violence and emergency preparedness issues. Emergency preparedness would be addressed by supporting schools in developing emergency plans and conducting emergency drills to prepare schools in the event that there is a weather or mass casualty situation at a school district. Violence prevention would be addressed by providing needs assessments and professional training to school districts on how to reduce incidents of student-on-student violence including fighting/assault, weapon carrying and use, and bullying and harassment.

School Violence Prevention Programs: DPI requests $2 million to help improve school safety by providing funding directly to school districts to support programs and activities that prevent school violence and protect students.

DPI-identified Goals for Aids to Libraries, Individuals and Organizations

Goal: Ensure all citizens have equal access to comprehensive public library resources and services.

Objective/Activity: All libraries make effective use of technology and the Internet in order to provide access to information and knowledge resources to the state's residents.

Goal: Build a solid foundation for learning for all children.

Objective/Activity: Provide early intervention services at the middle school level via the Wisconsin educational opportunity, precollege and early identification programs to reinforce a solid foundation for learning and academic performance.

Don't Forget to Vote Tomorrow!

Don’t forget to vote Tuesday, August 12 in Wisconsin’s Partisan Primary! 

Statewide primaries are as follows:  Democratic Governor,  Democratic Lieutenant Governor,  Democratic Attorney General, Republican and Democratic State Treasurer, and Republican Secretary of State.  Remember, you can only vote for one party on Tuesday!

There are also local races for state Assembly and Senate seats and several congressional primaries, including a hotly contested Republican primary in the 6^th Congressional District between State Senators Glenn Grothman (R-West Bend) and Joe Leibham (R-Sheboygan) and State Representative Duey Stroebel (R-Saukville), as well as an unexpected Democratic primary between Congresswoman Gwen Moore and former State Senator Gary George in the 4^th Congressional District.

To check your registration status and see what’s on your ballot, visit   myvote.wi.gov

From the Government Accountability Board: Top Ten Things Primary Voters Need to Know