Latest Poll in Governor’s Race Gives Clues to Walker, GOP Push to Make it Harder for Students and Young People to Vote

MADISON, Wis. — The most recent Marquette University Law School poll finds Gov. Scott Walker in a dead heat with all voters and badly trailing his opponent Mary Burke by a 48 to 35 percent margin among younger voters between the ages of 18 and 29. According to One Wisconsin Now Executive Director Scot Ross, Walker’s dramatic age gap provides an explanation for why younger voters were targeted in the state with a voter ID law and other onerous new restrictions making it more complicated and difficult for them to vote.

Ross commented, “Now we see why Gov. Walker and his lapdog Republican controlled legislature were so eager to erect new barriers to young people voting – they’re overwhelmingly opposed to his record of cronyism, corruption and incompetence.”

Among the hurdles to younger voters, especially students, in the voter ID law signed by Gov. Walker were additional restrictions on student IDs used as proof of identity required to vote and requiring more documents from people using a student ID. Students were also specifically targeted with new requirements to produce documents to verify their residency.

The voter ID law adopted by the GOP controlled legislature and signed into law by Gov. Walker has been found unconstitutional by a federal judge and was enjoined from enforcement by two state courts. However, the parts of the law imposing new requirements on students verifying their address remain in effect.

In addition to the voter ID law, new measures rolling back the hours of early voting, eliminating the ability of young voters to vouch for others to verify their residency and imposing a new requirement that voters verify residency every time they register target students and other mobile voters.

Ross concluded, “If we’ve learned one thing about Gov. Walker from his campaigns, it’s that there is no depth to which he won’t sink to try to win a race. Putting new hurdles in the way of students and young voters access to their right to vote is just one more tactic as career politician Scott Walker pulls out all the stops to stay office.”