Wisconsin Republican voting bill 'morally repugnant,' say Democrats

Voting legislation proposed by Republican lawmakers in Wisconsin would disenfranchise the state's most vulnerable citizens and its young people, according to the Wisconsin Democratic Party.

Assembly Bill 7, drafted by Rep. Jeff Stone, would require voters to show a Wisconsin driver's license, a state-issued ID card, a military ID, a passport or a naturalization certificate. They would also have to provide both their current address and their previous address, and sign a poll book when they voted.

"The Republican voter suppression bill is an affront to democracy in Wisconsin," said Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Mike Tate. "It is morally repugnant."

In addition, the bill would restrict many voters from using absentee ballots and end straight-ticket voting for anyone not in the military or overseas. Republicans claimed the bill is needed to help prevent voter fraud.

"This is going to go a long way to restoring confidence in elections," Stone told the Wisconsin Journal Sentinel.

"It is another way station in a Republican philosophy that favors power concentrated in the hands of the very few," Tate said. "Their view of the state is to increasingly deny people rights, including the most important right, the franchise, that was purchased in blood. Even the most partisan attorney general in recent history cannot find evidence of the fraud that Republicans claim is at the heart of this legislation."