Government Accountability Board’s undoing is “sad day for democracy”

Expert says it’ll lead to
corruption and confusion in elections

He saw it as a “sad day for democracy.”

But Matt Rothschild from the watchdog group, Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, knew it was coming.

He’s among those reacting to Wisconsin governor Scott Walker today signing a bill that does away with the state’s nonpartisan Government Accountability Board, which oversees elections – replacing it with two partisan bodies instead.

“The Government Accountability Board was just doing its job and monitoring alleged violations of campaign finance laws,” Rothschild said. “For that, it was slapped down and slandered and now destroyed.” 

The end result, says Rothschild, will be inevitable corruption and confusion about how elections will run in the coming presidential election year.

In a statement today, director of the Government Accountability Board, Kevin Kennedy, says there are still many questions about how the transition will happen. The full change is supposed to be effective by the middle of the year.