Good morning.
Thursday in Whitewater will be partly cloudy with a high of 71. Sunrise is 6:49 AM and sunset 6:40 PM for 11h 51m 27s of daytime. The moon is a waxing gibbous with 98.9% of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1066, William the Conqueror lands in England, beginning the Norman conquest.
Anya van Wagtendonk reports Legislation to protect election workers moves forward at Wisconsin Capitol (‘The proposal would make it a felony to assault an election worker’):
Under the bipartisan proposals, attacks on election workers would become a felony; election workers would have access to whistleblower protections; and voters would receive text message updates about the status of their absentee ballots.
The proposal about protecting election workers comes after civil servants faced increased harassment and threats after the 2020 presidential election, when many people falsely accused workers – especially in swing states like Wisconsin – of participating in voter fraud and stealing the race from former President Donald Trump.
“Election workers are the backbone of successful elections and deserve to operate without fear for their personal safety or job security,” said André Jacque, R-DePere, who co-authored the bill, at a public hearing of the Senate Committee on Shared Revenue, Elections and Consumer Protection on Tuesday.
It would also make it a Class I felony to intentionally harm an election worker. Currently, most forms of battery are Class A misdemeanors, but this bill would provide special protections for election workers.
Some version of this bill is long overdue.
See 2023 Wisconsin Senate Bill 291:
Bear devours picnic inches away from onlookers in Mexico: