Restoring Public Trust in Wisconsin Government

Submitted by goveisman on Fri, 2006-09-22 16:55.

My campaign to make a HUGE Difference in Wisconsin begins with bringing an honest government to the people.

An honest government will reduce the influence of money in politics by providing candidates a choice to eliminate contributions from corporations and sources outside Wisconsin. I propose that we change the criteria for qualifying to be on the ballot and offer public financing in one step. A candidate for statewide office would need 1,000 signatures on nomination petitions from people qualified to vote, along with a tax-deductible amount of $5.00. Then candidate will choose whether or not to be publicly or privately financed. Their choice will be designated on the ballot along with their party affiliation.
Next the state legislature needs to pass Senate Bill 1 which reforms the Elections and Ethics boards to create Government Accountability Board (GAB) with enforcement power.

There are several other reforms that need to be passed:

· Eliminate gerrymandering by giving the GAB the authority to determine voter wards and districts using objective criteria
· Voters should use schools and municipal facilities for polling places and eventually be able to vote remotely via the Internet
· All voting machines need to be GAB certified according to strict state standards
· All voting methods need a paper audit
· No media will report projections until polls have closed
· Candidates will have equal access to TV, radio, public forums and debates, except private gatherings sponsored for individual candidates
· Ballots will present voters choices that they rank so no candidate “spoils” the chance of another and every vote counts
· DPI will develop a high school curriculum in how state and local government works, the elected offices, voting rights and methods, and mock elections
· Public funding will come from surcharges on all civil forfeitures
· Public funding will be adjusted by the board if a privately funded campaign is overwhelming the campaign of the publicly funded opponent(s)
· Election day will be a state holiday to encourage voter turnout

These reforms will elect people who want to serve the people. As long as our politics are influenced by special interests, people will continue to feel unrepresented and voter turnout will remain minimal. A better democracy requires a better election process.

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Nice try, but
Submitted by Ben Masel on Sat, 2006-09-23 04:16.

1. Paper trail and internet voting proposals are mutually exclusive.

2. Solid Supreme Court caselaw holds that the 1st Amendment guarantees forum and debate organizers the right to invite whoever they chose, or not. See Forbes v Arkansas Educational Television.

3. Ban on projecting winners also runs afoul of the 1st Amendment, as a content-based prior restraint

4. SB1 would have the GAB nominally non-partisan, but we all know there's no such thing. The bill's granting appointment power to the Marquette Law School Dean also raises Establishment of Religion issues.

The current process for designating the SEB is flawed, but the right fix would ensure multi-partisan makeup, with no Party holding a controlling majority.

5. SB 1 as currently written leaves in place the "6% rule" effectively granting public funding only to candidates of dominant Parties, and categorically excluding public funding of Independents, who have no Primary in which to net 6% of the Primary vote.

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