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Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers vetoes GOP election bills as 'anti-democratic'

By Zarrin Ahmed
Evers on Tuesday referred to Wisconsin, a battleground state, as a "petri dish for Republican plans to undermine democracy." File Photo by Kamil Krzaczynski/UPI
1 of 5 | Evers on Tuesday referred to Wisconsin, a battleground state, as a "petri dish for Republican plans to undermine democracy." File Photo by Kamil Krzaczynski/UPI | License Photo

Aug. 10 (UPI) -- Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers on Tuesday formally rejected multiple bills passed by state lawmakers that would have imposed more restrictions for absentee voting in the state, calling them "anti-democratic."

One of the bills, which were passed by Wisconsin's Republican-controlled legislature in June, would have required voters to complete more paperwork to get an absentee ballot -- and others would have required elderly and disabled residents to provide a photo ID to get a ballot and barred clerks from correcting defects on absentee ballot envelopes.

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Other bills would have created a backup system for voting in nursing homes and allowed election observers to sit or stand within 3 feet of poll workers.

Evers referred to Wisconsin, a battleground state, as a "petri dish for Republican plans to undermine democracy," according to The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

"Well, not anymore. Not today. Not anymore today. Not as long as I'm the governor of the great state of Wisconsin," Evers added during the veto ceremony in the Capitol rotunda.

Wisconsin Republicans do not have enough votes to override Evers' vetoes.

Wisconsin is one of several states that have attempted to pass new voting restrictions after President Donald Trump lost in November to Joe Biden, and then tried to argue that widespread voter fraud cost him the election.

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No evidence of rampant voter fraud has ever been found and Trump's own Department of Homeland Security called the 2020 election the most secure in history. Still, that hasn't kept Trump from repeatedly pushing the false claims and Republicans in many states from repeating them.

During his remarks Tuesday, Evers pointed to failed audits done in Arizona in recent months and called it a "clown show."

The vetoes on Tuesday came days after Republican state Rep. Janel Brandtjen issued subpoenas in an attempt to seize ballots and voting machines in Brown and Milwaukee counties for an audit.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos of Rochester told the Journal Sentinel that the new restrictions would have standardized voting procedures. Republican Senate President Chris Kapenga told The Chicago Tribune the bills would have protected the integrity of elections in the state.

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