"States across the country that have same-day registration have real problems because the vast majority of their states have poll workers who are wonderful volunteers, who work 13-hour days and who in most cases are retirees," Walker said in the speech. "It's difficult for them to handle the volume of people who come at the last minute. It'd be much better if registration was done in advance of election day. It'd be easier for our clerks to handle that. All that needs to be done."Forget Mr. Walker's ageism. Forget his stereotyping of poll workers as "retirees" whose feeble minds are apparently unable to keep track of voters. Those voting days can be long and tedious, punctuated by an occasional long line and a tough question about eligibility or voting protocol. In Wyoming, poll workers can work half-day shifts, an option brought to you by legislation sponsored and ramrodded by one-time Democratic Rep. Lori Millin. In 2010, I worked one of those split-shifts while most of my fellow volunteers did not. They were tougher than I am. Maybe they wanted to stay on-site and hobnob with old friends, or maybe they wanted to eat more of Edith's yummy tamales (we eat well at the polls), or maybe they just like what they're doing and are damned good at it. Whatever the reason, a more hard-working bunch you will never see.
Perhaps Gov. Walker actually believes that Wisconsin poll workers are inferior to those in Wyoming. Perhaps we need a poll-worker Olympics to find out who is the best of them all.
Or perhaps Gov. Walker is just full of it. Didn't the Repubs learn anything from the recent election? Americans don't like it when you trample on their voting rights.
