MSNBC "All In with Chris Hayes" - Transcript: Interview with Tony Evers
Interview
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HASAN: If there is one thing Republicans have been fixated on since November, it`s making voting in the 2022 and 2024 elections as hard as possible. The Brennan Center for Justice has found "between January 1 and may 14 of 2021, at least 14 states enacted 22 new laws that restrict access to the vote." The United States is on track to far exceed its most recent period of significant voter suppression, 2011.
And we have seen those attempts to restrict access to the vote play out on the ground. Earlier this summer, Republicans in the Wisconsin legislature passed a series of bills restricting who can return absentee ballots, requiring elderly and disabled voters to send in IDs to request an absentee ballot and prohibiting clerks from correcting defects on absentee ballot envelopes.
But today, Wisconsin`s Democratic Governor Tony Evers vetoed those bills, saying, "In recent years, we`ve been used as a petri dish for Republican plans to undermine democracy. Well, not anymore." And Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers joins me now.
Governor, thanks so much for coming on the show this evening. Tell me about these bills you vetoed today. What were Republicans trying to do and why was it so important for you to veto them?
EVERS: Well, they go to the heart of democracy, Mehdi. And thanks for having me tonight. And it was I did this with great pleasure, but also great thoughtfulness. What they propose comes to the heart of our democracy which is -- which is voting. And you mentioned several the issues that the Republicans took up.
Now, the irony here though is this. Many of these items became law or became practice by Republicans. Suddenly they have an election where things didn`t go their way and now it`s part of voter fraud. All that is frankly baloney. And I was very happy to be able to make sure that the absentee -- we have a strong absentee ballot situation here in the state of Wisconsin, and we`re now keeping it. And the same thing as it relates to all number of -- number of bills that they put together.
But this is just the beginning. These six bills are just the beginning. I proud -- I pride myself in being pro-democracy and I assume everybody in the country is that way. But these bills were not pro-democracy.
HASAN: Governor, there`s been a lot of reporting, a lot of reporting recently that the White House thinks they can out-organize Republican voter suppression, that they can still win with higher turnout come 2022 say. When you look at places like Wisconsin with its legendary gerrymandering where Democrats won the majority of votes in the state elections in 2018, but only a minority of seats in the legislature, that is clearly not the case. You can`t out organize a gerrymander, can you?
And I wonder, have you told the White House that? Have you told them what happened in Wisconsin? Why aren`t Senate Democrats, Democrats in D.C. listening?
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EVERS: Well, I have -- I`ve made that clear to our own -- our own senators. There`s no question about that. We need some help from the federal government. But even with the gerrymandering piece, I think we`re going to be in a pretty good place here in Wisconsin. We are able to work hard in the last election with Joe Biden here to make sure that Republicans cannot override my veto on these important issues. And as a result of that, I feel confident that we`re going to be in a good place going forward.
But obviously, there are states all across this country that do not have Democratic governors and do have Republican legislators -- legislatures that are in the majority. And, you know, around voting, it shouldn`t look any different in Florida as it doesn`t in Wisconsin. And so, we have to make sure that every state has the ability to make sure that they`re having -- giving eligible people the right to vote. And that that is -- that is a national issue. But I feel confident here in Wisconsin we`re going to be in a good place.
HASAN: You were asked today, Governor, whether two Wisconsin county should comply with Republican subpoenas to turn over their ballots and voting equipment. What was your response to those subpoenas?
EVERS: Well, I think I said, if they asked you what would you say? And I said, hell no. I mean, it`s pretty simple. First of all, it was a subpoena that was issued by someone who didn`t then have the authority to do it. And second of all, it was from a legislator who went down to Arizona and watched what a farcical thing was going on in that state and wants to bring it here in Wisconsin.
So, yes, I`m very confident that the two counties will refuse this request, this bogus request, and -- but the unfortunate thing, it will end up in court, and so we`re going to spend taxpayers money to essentially make sure that democracy continues to happen. But it is this outraged by a handful of Republican legislators who frankly are still dreaming that Donald Trump won, have kissed the ring. And so now, this is -- this is their way of solving that.
HASAN: Governor, let`s talk COVID. 68 percent of Wisconsinites over 18 years old have gotten one dose of the vaccine. That`s actually lower than the 71 percent in Florida which is in the middle of a major outbreak. What are you doing to encourage more people in your state to get vaccinated and what is holding them back?
EVERS: Well, it`s a number of factors and that`s the complexity here. Yes, we led the nation for several weeks when we had lots of people that wanted to make sure that they got their shots in arms and we were we were very, very successful. It has plateaued, we`re still -- we`re still reaching out to people as much as we can.
Now, I just have to remind everybody that my ability to require mask at the state level was taken away by the state Supreme Court. And so, there`s a limited things that I can do. But at the end of the day, you know, we`re going to have schools that are going to be safe. We have several of our school districts in the state that have already made that decision, a local decision, and held by, you know, local school boards are saying.
Yes, we need to have everybody masking up. Yes, we need to make sure things go well here. We need to get kids back in school. No question about that. But school districts are stepping up. But am I concerned? Absolutely. And I`ve said this a lot of times and it is going to be hand to hand combat now. It`s individuals that many of them, frankly, are reticent because they`re not part of a healthcare system. And frankly, they need an extra push.
And so, I`m encouraging everybody in the state of Wisconsin to go through their elect -- their mental Rolodex and find those people that they know have not been vaccinated and reach out. It`s not going to happen because of the Milwaukie Bucks, or the governor of the state, or the Milwaukee Brewers are encouraging people to do it. It`s going to be friends and neighbors that are going to be making this happen in our state. But I feel confident about our schools being in a good place going forward.
HASAN: Governor Evers, what do you make of your fellow governors in Texas and Florida, Ron DeSantis, Greg Abbott, the way they`re behaving so recklessly? Do you believe they have blood on their hands? A lot of people are dying in those states who don`t have to die.
EVERS: Yes. And especially discouraging as it relates to schools and that`s -- that is my background. And when you`re telling that -- telling your local school districts that they cannot protect their kids the way they want to, they cannot do something that the parents of that school district wants, it seems counterproductive frankly. And we should be -- we should be in a better place than that. And I believe at the end of the day, it is causing more deaths and it is -- it is causing more sickness.
HASAN: It`s awful. It`s awful to watch. Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, we`ll have to leave it there. Thank you so much for your time tonight.
EVERS: Thank you.
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