Frederica Freyberg:

More on voter ID, Governor Scott Walker today approved an emergency rule to allow voters to get the underlying documents needed for voter IDs free of charge. He says the free verification process will be up and running by Monday. This rule came just ahead of a federal appeals court lifting the injunction on Wisconsin's voter ID law, paving the way for it to go into effect for the November elections. The Government Accountability Board says it would move ahead to implement voter ID though it will be challenging, in part, because nearly 12,000 absentee ballots have already been mailed out without information on photo ID requirements.

Now to fall election news and a story about three counties in the state that have a distinctive voting record. You don’t need a crystal ball to predict that the Dane County vote will be mostly Democratic, or that the Waukesha County vote will go mostly Republican. In fact, most counties around the state have a tendency to support one party more than the other. But did you know that there are three counties in Wisconsin that are much harder to pin down? Here and Now's Zac Schultz tells us which they are, and tries to figure out why.

Zac Schultz:

The voters in Richland, Lincoln and in Forest County can be described in many ways.

Will Buros:

I think it’s a very independent-minded group.

Tom Tielke:

They can read people pretty well.

Paul Proulx:

They’re looking for honest answers. They like people to be truthful with them.

Melisaa Schroder:

My voters I think are pretty savvy to figuring out what’s really accurate.

Ron Fruit:

And I think they take voting seriously.

Mike Monte:

I would like to think we’re all very astute and good judges of character, but I don’t know if we’re any better than anybody else at it.

Gene Bebel:

You wonder what people do when they walk into a ballot box.

Zac Schultz:

Many words, but ultimately it boils down to this.

Tom Barrett:

They know how to pick a winner. Ask them to buy stocks.

Zac Schultz:

These three counties have voted for the overall winner of every presidential, gubernatorial and US senate race since 1990. That means they voted for Barack Obama and Tammy Baldwin, Scott Walker in the recall, Scott Walker and Ron Johnson, Barack Obama, Jim Doyle and Herb Kohl, George Bush and Russ Feingold, Jim Doyle, George Bush and Herb Kohl, Tommy Thompson and Russ Feingold, Bill Clinton, Tommy Thompson and Herb Kohl, Bill Clinton and Russ Feingold, and Tommy Thompson again. That’s a total of 13 Democrats and eight Republicans. And four times, the voters split their ticket with a Democratic US senator and a Republican governor or president. So how does that happen?

Ron Fruit:

I wish I knew the answer to that question.

Tom Tielke:

I don’t know how, exactly, how it happens.

Paul Proulx:

I wouldn’t have believed it was possible.

Brian Schimming:

I’m not sure what that is. I wish I could sit and tell you I came up with the theory that works for all three of those. But that is quite an anomaly, and the fact that it would go on that long.

Gene Bebel:

It’s hard to say anything can be a coincidence over and over and over.

Zac Schultz:

At first glance, the counties of Richland, Lincoln and Forest don’t have much in common. They’re in different parts of the state, they have different population sizes, their economies vary from agriculture to forestry products, but all three are mostly rural.

Dale Schultz:

All three places are historically have been difficult places to earn a living.

Zac Schultz:

Republican senator Dale Schultz has represented Richland County for all of this streak.

Dale Schultz:

The people who survive there, who thrive there are the kind of people who learn to cooperate and work with each other.

Zac Schultz:

Politicians working across party lines at the local level is a common theme.

Mike Monte:

I don’t see hardly any party politics get into local offices.

Zac Schultz:

Mike Monte publishes a local newspaper in Forest County, and says the community knows how to rally around each other.

Mike Monte:

All it takes is have a house burn down and politics go right out the window.

Paul Proulx:

You know, we all live here and we all work here. We all have to exist here.

Zac Schultz:

Paul Proulx is the former Republican sheriff in Lincoln County.

Paul Proulx:

We can disagree on our politics, but we need to be friends and we need to be civil to each other and continue on with life. Life doesn’t revolve around politics in itself.

Tom Tielke:

Some of the times the issues that are big downstate really aren’t, you know, they’re not real big issues up here.

Zac Schultz:

Tom Tielke works with the Forest County Democratic party, but has also been a school superintendent and on the county board. He says divisive topics like school choice aren’t that relevant in the Northwoods.

Tom Tielke:

In our area how many kids, parents and kids are utilizing vouchers? Not very many. We don’t have any private schools. You gonna get a voucher to go where?

Ron Fruit:

Richland County has changed so much in that time period. Thanks for being a part of today's program.

Zac Schultz:

Ron Fruit owns the local radio station in Richland County and has been on the air for decades.

Ron Fruit:

Used to be everybody had a tie to the farm. That’s not the case anymore. And so I really think it’s interesting that that has stayed the same, even though the diversity of people has changed dramatically.

Will Buros:

I don’t know if it’s just one answer.

Zac Schultz:

Will Buros is involved in the Richland County Democratic party and a former candidate for office, so he's knocked on a lot of doors.

Will Buros:

One of the things I'd hear people say to me was that, nah, I’m not affiliated with any party.

Melissa Schroder:

Our voters will flip. They are the most– They go back and forth and back and forth.

Zac Schultz:

Melissa Schroder is chair woman of the Lincoln County Democratic party.

Melissa Schroder:

It’s frustrating, because you wake up at night thinking, what do I have to do to crack that bubble?

Gene Bebel:

I’m always amazed at the end result of some elections.

Zac Schultz:

Gene Bebel is involved in the Lincoln County Democratic party and is a former teacher.

Gene Bebel:

I talk to people all the time who don’t really know exactly why they are going to vote the way they vote. They kind of decide as they walk into a poll.

Zac Schultz:

Whether there is a logical explanation or not, the streak exists. So what does that mean for the election this fall?

Will Buros:

Our numbers are so small it’s not like we’re going to swing the state or anything, but I think we certainly are a good barometer.

Zac Schultz:

Both sides are convinced if Scott Walker or Mary Burke wins these counties, they will win the state.

Brian Schimming:

They’ll win all three.

Mike Tate:

I fully expect that we’ll win those counties and we’ll win in November.

Zac Schultz:

And judging by recent history, they’re probably right. But at least one person doesn’t want that to be the last time elected officials in Madison focus on Richland, Lincoln and Forest County.

Paul Proulx:

They should pay attention to us, to all three of these counties, because there’s something we’re doing that is right. They should be looking at us and following our lead.