Rep. Baldeh Statement on Assembly Passage of Elections Bills

November 9, 2023

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                               

Contact: Rep. Samba Baldeh          

PHONE: (608) 237-9148 

EMAIL: Rep.baldeh@legis.wisconsin.gov

                                                                                                                                                        

Rep. Baldeh Statement on Assembly Passage of Elections Bills

“Voters Want Bipartisan Solutions, Not Political Games”

MADISON – In response to the passage of numerous elections-related bills through the Assembly earlier today, State Representative Samba Baldeh (D-Madison) released the following statement:



“Earlier today, the Assembly passed a number of elections related bills; some good, many unfortunately disappointing.

I’d like to start by saying that I appreciate the good, hard work of the bill authors on both sides of the aisle who sought to find real, bipartisan agreement and compromise on elections-related issues. I want to thank my colleagues on the Committee on Campaigns and Elections who worked together to ensure that at least some of the bills in front of us today were ones that we could all agree on, and that those bills addressed real issues facing elections administrators and our communities.

Wisconsin is on track to codify best practices with elections, keep polling places open, protect our elections officials, get a head start on processing absentee ballots, and more. These are real wins for our state, and they deserve to be celebrated.

Unfortunately, yet again, Republicans could not let the day pass without wading into controversy and divisive politics. Most frustratingly, many of the bills passed this afternoon were either about targeted political games, or leaned into the conspiratorial claims surrounding the 2020 presidential election. If they make it to his desk, I hope Gov. Evers will strongly consider vetoing any and all of those bills that would take our elections and voting rights backwards.

To be clear, games and conspiracies are not what the majority of Wisconsinites want from their Representatives. Instead, they want us to work together to find common ground, take positive steps forward, keep our elections free, fair, safe, secure, and accessible, and make our communities the best they can be.

Let’s set aside the games, and instead focus on building upon the successful and important bipartisan work we saw today.”

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