Tomorrow you’ll face a sneaky, underhanded referendum that would undermine our democratic process - referendum question #1 on the Spring Election ballot on how to choose our Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. We urge you to resist this crass political ploy by Partisan politicians and special interest money. Please vote NO on the referendum tomorrow, Tuesday, April 7.

MADISON - We rarely urge you to vote one way or another at election time.

But tomorrow you’ll face a sneaky, underhanded referendum that would undermine our democratic process -- referendum question #1 on the Spring Election ballot on how to choose our Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

For more than 100 years, that post has gone to the most senior member on the court, which is a wise and prudent procedure, which cuts done on infighting and jockeying and politicization. But now, because anti-democratic forces have a vendetta against Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson, they’ve put a referendum before you to change that process so that a majority of the justices decide who is chief justice.

This is especially undemocratic because we, the Wisconsin voters, chose by a wide margin to reelect Chief Justice Abrahamson in 2009.

Now anti-democratic forces essentially want to repeal that vote and take that decision away from us.

We urge you to resist this crass political ploy. Partisan politics and special interest money have no place in our courtrooms.

Please vote NO on the referendum tomorrow, Tuesday, April 7.