Ending election-day registration would cost $14.5 million
By Patrick Marley of the Journal Sentinel Feb. 18, 2013 9:36 a.m.
Madison - Eliminating the ability of voters to register at the polls would cost taxpayers as much as $14.5 million over two years - a price well above what Gov. Scott Walker has said he could tolerate.
Walker and other Republicans have said they would like to eliminate the ability of people to register on election day, but Walker in recent weeks has said he would not make such a move if it was too costly. At the time, preliminary estimates said eliminating the practice would cost $5.2 million, and Walker said that was too much.
But a new report released Monday by the state Government Accountability Board said the cost would be nearly triple the previous estimate. The board, which oversees elections in Wisconsin, said getting rid of election-day registration would cost between $13.2 million and $14.5 million over two years.
The initial report tabulated costs for the accountability board, but not other state agencies.
The reason the change would be so costly is that it would force Wisconsin to comply with the federal motor-voter law that requires states to provide people the opportunity to register to vote when they get or renew their driver's licenses or contact state benefit programs. Wisconsin is now exempt from the motor-voter law because voters can register at the polls.
The new cost estimates were developed by the board in conjunction with state agencies controlled by the Walker administration, such as the Department of Transportation and the Department of Health Services.
The higher cost estimates further dim the likelihood of Republicans who control the Legislature trying to eliminate election-day registration.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/ending-electionday-registration-would-cost-145-million-r18qn5r-191675121.html
| 
