× Expand Carolyn Fath

You wanna know why I left the Republican Party as it exists today?

I was in the closed Senate Republican Caucus when the final round of multiple voter ID bills was being discussed. A handful of the GOP Senators were giddy about the ramifications and literally singled out the prospects of suppressing minority and college voters.

Think about that for a minute.

Elected officials planning and happy to help deny a fellow American's constitutional right to vote in order to increase their own chances to hang onto power. A vigorous debate on the ideas wasn't good enough. No, they had to take the coward's way out and come up with a plan to suppress the vote under the guise of “voter fraud.”

The truth? There was almost no fraud. Oh wait, GOP Speaker Robin Vos' estranged wife allegedly voted in both Idaho and Wisconsin, and a GOP staffer was caught voting twice. But it was good rhetoric.

Yesterday, one of my employees, born in California, went to get a Wisconsin ID. He was told he couldn't use his California ID to get a Wisconsin ID without his birth certificate, which is back in California.

The result? He's not able to vote. Here's a young man in his early 20s, who is interested in voting for the first time in his life. He was excited to go to the polls. What kind of a state, a legislature, a political party is it that denies this young man his right?

The GOP was born out of greater opportunity and equality. Wisconsin, yes the Wisconsin Republican Party, under the leadership of Gov. Robert M. “Fighting Bob” La Follette, led the country in creating greater voting access for its citizens.

The Wisconsin GOP was seen as a shining example of equality. THAT was the party I joined in the ‘80s. That party no longer exists.

I don't belong to any party now. I don't think the Dems have all the answers either. But my God, to watch a party I once fought for deny a young man his voting rights...it boils my blood [and] leaves a pit in my stomach. It's time for a‪ #‎GOPImplosion‬.

A chief of staff for former state Sen. Dale Schultz (R-Richland Center), Todd Allbaugh left politics in 2014 and now co-owns 5th Element Coffee in Madison.