Legislative Ethics

“In the April elections Wisconsin tends to have low turnout, and not many people are going to look at these [closely]. Maybe they’ll read it and think, ‘yeah, that sounds reasonable,’” Jay Heck, the executive director of Common Cause Wisconsin, the state’s branch of the national nonpartisan government watchdog group, said ahead of the results. “But they are both the product of election denial.” Their impact could be notable, Heck suggested. With avenues for additional funding roped off, and with the scope of who can volunteer as poll workers narrowed, the possibility of additional conspiracy theories and chaos during and following another close race this fall — the state’s past two presidential elections were both decided by fewer than 23,000 votes — could be more likely. “Unless the Legislature fully funds election administration, which the Republican-controlled Legislature never has done and never will do, then this leaves election clerks all over the state of Wisconsin without the resources to run elections” well, he said.

Common Cause Florida and eight other groups are urging DeSantis to veto the bill, calling the personal knowledge standard “an unreasonably high evidentiary hurdle that has never existed in the 50-year history of the Commission. Instead, complaints should continue to require the filer to certify that the information is true to the best of their knowledge, which already discourages false and frivolous complaints.”

Gavin Geis of Common Cause Nebraska said it was disappointing and concerning that the partisan balance requirement had been ignored and sidestepped. “It’s put in there for a purpose, so we have some sort of diversity of opinion and perspective on questions of policy,” Geis said. “That diversity of thought leads to better outcomes.” “Not everyone has the opinion of a registered Republican,” he added. “It certainly should not to be skirted around.”

“This is not just some kind of organic, grassroots effort. It's a much more … deliberative, pernicious effort by big business,” said Aaron Scherb, the senior director of legislative affairs at Common Cause, a national watchdog group.

Anne Gray Herring, a policy analyst for Common Cause Georgia, said requiring eligible voters to go through this burden of proving their residency is not a trivial thing. “I do appreciate that the bill attempts to clarify what is probable because that was something that is needed through this new mass challenge landscape,” she said.

Donations such as those from Talitrix and others with ties to the company are a relatively common practice for those who seek to influence public officials, but it’s concerning, said Aunna Dennis, executive director of the Georgia chapter of Common Cause, a government and ethics watchdog group. The current limit for county politicians is $3,300 for primary and general elections. Donating through related entities and family members helps skirt Georgia’s limits on individual giving, Dennis said. “It may not be illegal in Georgia, but it’s inappropriate,” Dennis said.