-By Warner Todd Huston
There is no doubt that our election laws are in serious disarray. So many laws and rules have been written and added to the plethora of rules and regulations that already exist that confusion is more likely the case than clarification. As several recall petitions in Wisconsin wing their way to a polling place near you (if you’re a Badger Stater), a case in point is a stupid Wisconsin rule that equates to the disenfranchisement of individual voters should things get dicey at the polling place.
Tucked away in chapter seven of the election officials duties publication from the State of Wisconsin is a rule that would essentially take away the legal vote of some undetermined number of voters if the polling place discovers that its vote count is higher than its number of registered voters in the poll book.
The idea is that if there are too many votes then the poll judges will “draw… by chance the number of ballots equal to the excess number” and put these votes aside. These votes will not count, either. That means that supposedly by random, some citizens will lose their vote because somehow or another the ballot box was stuffed with too many illicit votes!
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Election Laws Need an Overhaul, Wisc. Case in Point”
The idea of a recall of elected officials was and is a good idea, especially in this, the most corrupt state in the union. Just think if we had a good recall amendment during this past mess with Governor Rod Blagojevich.