The ‘Fix’ Is In: Gov. Walker and Legislative Republicans Introduce Latest Scheme to Manipulate the Rules to Gain Unfair, Partisan Advantage

MADISON, Wis. — Republican legislative leaders, with the support of Gov. Scott Walker, are unveiling their latest scheme to manipulate election and ethics laws in Wisconsin to gain an unfair, partisan advantage for themselves.

According to media reports, Republicans have reached an agreement amongst themselves to quickly move forward with legislation to undo the nonpartisan Government Accountability Board and replace the enforcement of election and ethics laws with a system based on the widely criticized Federal Elections Commission and overseen by partisan appointees.

The following are the statements of One Wisconsin Institute Executive Director Scot Ross:

“Once again Gov. Walker and his Republican legislative accomplices are trying to manipulate the rules to give themselves an unfair partisan advantage.

“We ought to be able to trust that our elections are run fairly, our votes are cast freely and our elected officials are held to the highest ethical standards when in office. This latest Republican scheme would set Wisconsin back on all those measures.

“Whether it’s making it harder and more complicated to vote as they have with myriad new laws, gerrymandering legislative districts, packing state government with political cronies or trying to gut the open records law to hide their actions from public scrutiny, this gang’s willingness to use the legislative process for their own power and benefit knows no bounds.

“Inserting more partisanship into the oversight of state campaign and ethics laws doesn’t mean better or fairer enforcement to ensure everyone is playing by the rules, it just means more partisanship.”