Wisconsin Democrats Flee the State to Avoid Voting on Anti Union Bill

In a dramatic attempt to stop the Wisconsin legislature from voting on a bill ending union collective bargaining rights, Democratic state senators have reportedly left the state. The Senate needs a quorum in order to vote and with no other options available to them, the Democrats walked out of the Capital building earlier this afternoon. A search through the Senators’ offices conducted by the Sergeant of Arms yielded no results, and at least one Wisconsin state senator said that many of his colleagues were no longer in Wisconsin, according to Talking Points Memo.

Senator Jon Erpenbach claimed that Democrats “had no choice” but to leave, and that at least 14 were no longer in Wisconsin. He refused to comment on where they were, but said they were determined to leave Republicans without the three-fifths majority they would need for the vote to take place.