How to gracefully make it through Wisconsin winter weather +PAGE TWO University of Wisconsin-Madison
What happens when Mr. Fluffy gets a boo-boo +SCIENCE, page 4
Complete campus coverage since 1892
l
dailycardinal.com
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
GAB finds Nov. 6 elections cost state $10 million By Jack Casey the daily cardinal
graphic by Dylan moriarty
Police say robbers in a dark vehicle on campus’s south side are targeting college-age students walking alone, approaching victims to steal electronics.
Robbers targeting college-age victims
Two suspects forcefully robbed three Madison residents and stole various electronic devices on the south side of campus Monday, according to a police report. The robberies occurred between approximately 9:40 p.m. and 11:23 p.m. Madison Police spokesperson Joel DeSpain said the suspects targeted the victims because they were walking alone.
The first victim, a 20-year-old female, told police the two men exited a black vehicle and demanded her cell phone while she was walking on the 400 block of West Dayton Street, according to DeSpain. The suspects later robbed a 20-year-old UW student and another 20-year-old male,
crime page 3
The Government Accountability Board revealed the most recent general and presidential elections cost the state $10 million, the most of any statewide election in 2012 and also outlined major voting statistics from Wisconsin’s 2012 elections in a report Tuesday. The Board used election information from all 1,851 state municipalities to compile data on election administration costs, number of voters and ballots cast as well as the number of voters who registered on Election Day. The majority of the elections’ costs came from paying election staff wages and printing ballots, according to the report. Staff wages, about $93.80 per person, accounted for approximately $6.2 million of the expenditures, while ballot printing cost the state $1.4 million. As a comparison, the controversial 2012 Recall election, which set Gov. Scott Walker against Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett in a rematch of Walker’s first gubernatorial victory, cost the state about $7.2 million. The report also found a significant decrease in same-day voter registration, from 15 percent in 2008 to 11 percent in the most recent 2012 elections. Kevin Kennedy, Wisconsin’s chief election official, said in the report the drop in Election Day registration is not entirely surprising, as there were more statewide elections in 2012 than in past years.
“The two statewide special elections in the spring of 2012 gave voters more opportunities to register, which may have decreased the number of Election Day registrations in November,” Kennedy said in the report. The Board has limited information on the cost of past state elections because it has only required election spending reports since April 2012 but has kept records of voter turnout in the state since 1948. According to the GAB, the 2012 voter turnout barely surpassed the 2008 turnout, 70 percent to 69 percent.
“We appreciate the work of local election officials in reporting the data, which is useful for evaluating election administration...” Kevin Kennedy chief election official Wisconsin
The overall cost for all statewide elections in 2012 was about $37 million, according to Michael Haas, the GAB’s Elections Division Administrator. He said the overall cost assessment will be useful as the Board plans for future elections. “We appreciate the work of local election officials in reporting the data, which is useful for evaluating election administration and for policymakers and the public,” Haas said.
Roggensack, Fallone advance in race Justice Pat Roggensack and Marquette University law professor Ed Fallone will face off in the Wisconsin Supreme Court general election after advancing through Tuesday’s primary. The incumbent Roggensack won 64 percent of the vote while Fallone earned 30 percent. Milwaukee lemon law
attorney Vince Megna, who endorsed Fallone after the primary ended, finished third with 6 percent of the vote. The Associated Press called the race around 9:20 p.m. The winner of the April 2 general election will serve a 10-year term on the state’s highest court. Throughout the campaign,
Roggensack has emphasized her experience as a judge, which she said sets her apart from her challengers. Roggensack served on an appeals court for seven years before she was first elected to the Supreme Court in 2003. Fallone has pledged to end
voting page 3
Campus area alder race candidates set Constituents decided in a primary election Tuesday which candidates will advance to the April 2 general election for city Council seats in two different districts. According to Ald. Scott Resnick, District 8, about 1 percent of registered voters in the campus area participated in the primary election, narrowing the pool for District 2 and District 13 aldermanic seats from three candidates to two. Bryan Post and Ledell
Zellers, both city government newcomers, will battle to replace retiring alder Bridget Maniaci in District 2. Zellers received 52.8 percent of the 1,000 votes while Post took 42.4 percent, according to city clerk results. District 2 stretches from North Broom Street to Sherman Terrace on Lake Mendota’s southeast shore and encompasses the Langdon and Mansion Hill neighborhoods. Voters also decided the candidates that will run for District 13.
Edgewood College student Zach Madden, 19, will face off against incumbent alder Sue Ellingson for the District 13 Common Council seat. Madden received 23.8 percent of the 1,538 votes while Ellingson won 60.6 percent, according to city clerk results. District 13 spans from South Park Street to Wingra Drive and includes the Greenbush and Vilas neighborhoods as well as Edgewood College. —Melissa Howison
Grey satterfield/the daily cardinal
Memorial Library was one of the various campus-area polling locations for Wisconsin’s Spring 2013 primary elections Tuesday.
“…the great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.”