Even with bipartisan support some bills have trouble becoming law

In a divided government it is often difficult to get bills passed into law. We have certainly seen that in  Wisconsin, where very few bills authored by the Republican Legislature earned the signature of Democratic Governor Tony Evers. But every once in a while, a bill is introduced with bipartisan support. That is the case with Assembly Bill 567, which would allow clerks throughout Wisconsin to begin processing absentee ballots before election day. Currently clerks have to wait until the polls close to process absentee ballots, which is becoming a bigger and bigger job because of changes in how people vote. Allowing for processing starting the day before the election would help prevent the results from being known so late at night, or early the next day. What is known as ballot dumping would not happen under this bill, and people would be less suspicious of the results. The bill has the support of clerks throughout the state. The legislation was crafted by both Republicans and Democrats. It passed the Assembly with bipartisan votes, and has the support of both the Republican Speaker and the Democratic Governor. But with this year’s legislative session winding down, it appears this bill would not make it out of this session. Apparently even when just about everyone likes a piece of legislation, there still is no guarantee it will become law.