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WISCONSIN 12/14/04
[Permalink]
238 absentee ballots
uncounted in Wisconsin Via
reader LV, an article in the Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel:
They say every vote
counts - except for the 238 absentee ballots still sitting in
election chief Lisa Artison's City Hall office.
But finding out who's
to blame for this election day snafu is quickly becoming another
political whodunit.
Artison, the
embattled appointee of Mayor Tom Barrett, confirmed this week
that a couple of hundred absentee ballots failed to make it to the
proper polling place in time to be counted on Nov. 2.
The voters did their
job by mailing in the ballots before the election, but somebody on
the city payroll dropped the ball. Per state law, Artison said, the
uncounted ballots are in storage and soon will be destroyed.
"We're not happy
with the fact that ballots did not get out in time," Artison
said.
Not that these votes
would have tipped the election - U.S. Sen. John Kerry carried
Wisconsin by 11,000-plus votes - but neither Artison nor anybody
else knew that at the time.
Like any mystery,
this one will take some time to unravel. This is what we've been
able to piece together so far:
About 6 p.m. on the
hectic election day, Pat Curley, Barrett's chief of staff,
wandered upstairs in City Hall to check on the happenings in the
Election Commission's offices.
Realizing that
absentee ballots must be delivered to polling places before voting
ended at 8 p.m., Curley said, he asked whether that had been done.
Told that there were thousands of completed ballots still sitting at
City Hall, Curley raised questions about how they could be delivered
on time, he said.
"Some staff
person said, 'You know, the police used to help us with that,'
" Curley recalled Wednesday.
He quickly dialed up
Chief Nannette Hegerty, who dispatched eight cops in four
squads to serve as delivery boys.
Artison said her plan
was to have staffers deliver the ballots, which she said numbered a
few thousand. She said Curley decided instead to make it a police
matter.
Asked why Curley took
charge on an election matter, she initially responded with silence.
In a second interview, she remained a woman of few words on this
subject.
"It was not our
plan to have them delivered that way," Artison said. "The
decision was made to call (police), and he called them."
The cops did their
duty and delivered all of the boxes of ballots before the 8 p.m.
deadline, said Sgt. Ken Henning. No ballots, he said, were
returned to City Hall.
"The officers
did not go to other assignments, except to drop them off,"
Henning said.
So, you may be
wondering, why are there 238 uncounted absentee ballots still
sitting in Artison's office?
Artison contends the
cops failed to deliver all of the ballots and returned a couple of
hundred to her office.
"The ballots
left the building, and the ballots came back," Artison said.
"Certainly, I'm not pleased with that."
Henning, however,
stood firm and repeated that the police did not return a single
absentee ballot to Artison's crew. "All the stuff officers were
given, they delivered," he said.
Told what Artison
said, Henning asserted, "It's typical to blame somebody else
for your problems."
...
11/2/04_2
[Permalink]
Voters in Democrat-rich
counties in Wisconsin falsely told they cannot register on Election
Day Via TNR,
here an incident report:
And state Attorney
General Peg Lautenschlager said her office has received reports that
voters in the predominately Democratic cities of Kenosha and Racine
were told by poll observers that same-day registration is not
allowed. In fact, in Wisconsin, it is.
"I want to
remind all eligible Wisconsin citizens they have the right under
Wisconsin law to register at the polls and vote today," she
said. "Voters who are in line to vote by 8 p.m. when polls
close must be allowed to cast a ballot, regardless of how long the
line is when they arrive."
In Madison, the
Democratic county treasurer, Dave Gawenda, reports that his wife
Gail was ordered by a Republican poll watcher to remove her
"Kerry" button. Gawenda, who was present, tells what's
wrong with this picture: "First of all, poll 'watchers,' as
opposed to workers, aren't supposed to talk to voters. In addition,
he obviously didn't know the rules. I told him firmly that if he had
a cell phone, we'd call the city clerk right then and there. An
experienced poll worker told him it was all right. I don't want to
make this sound like Gail was being intimidated, but she felt
offended this guy was trying to tell her what to do."
11/2/04
[Permalink]
Wisconsin GOP's GOTV-vans'
tires slashed; fake letter mimicking RNC letterhead sent to some
voters claiming that the Party chairman has endorsed John Kerry Via Voters
Unite, an outrageous incident reported by the San
Francisco Chronicle:
In Milwaukee, the
tires of 30 vans Republicans had rented to help get out the vote
were slashed. GOP spokesman Chris Lato said it was not clear who was
responsible.
Via Voter's
Digest, we have this report in the Palm
Beach Post:
Republican National
Committee spokesman Jim Dyke, responding to the civil rights groups,
offered his party's list of grievances.
...
A faked letter purportedly from the Republican National Committee
has gone out to Wisconsin voters saying the party's chairman has
endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry.
11/1/04
[Permalink]
Dirty Tricks in
Wisconsin: Fraudulent callers claiming to be from NARAL Pro-Choice
Wisconsin (which has endorsed Kerry) urge voters to vote for Bush.
Called ID shows NARAL's number and a criminal investigation has begun. Rumblelizard
at Dailykos reports:
Breaking:
I just received this email from NARAL-Wisconsin:
ANTI-CHOICE FORCES
ILLEGALLY USE NARAL PRO-CHOICE WISCONSIN'S NAME
Bush Supporters Resort to Fraud in Effort to Confuse Voters
Madison, WI - NARAL
Pro-Choice Wisconsin filed a police report this morning, after
receiving reports of illegal use of NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin's
name and phone number. The Madison Police Department as well
as the fraud department of the group's telephone carrier are
investigating.
Several individuals
alerted the organization after receiving robotic telephone
messages urging them to vote for George W. Bush because of his
anti-reproductive health policies. NARAL Pro-Choice
Wisconsin and its national partner, NARAL Pro-Choice America,
work to protect women's reproductive rights and privacy, and
expand access to comprehensive reproductive health care for
women and families. Both groups have endorsed Sen. John
Kerry for President because of his strong record fighting for
women's health and equality.
The messages
contained a disclaimer stating that it had been paid for by
"NARAL." It then listed NARAL Pro-Choice
Wisconsin's phone number to call for more information.
Individuals
reported that their caller ID display showed NARAL Pro-Choice
Wisconsin's name and main office number. It is unclear
whether the calls were made by breaking into NARAL Pro-Choice
Wisconsin's phone system or by using software to create a false
caller ID display. Either would constitute a violation of
federal law.
"This is
very troubling - apparently, anti-choice forces will stop at
nothing - even breaking the law - to aid George Bush in his war
against women's health. We will seek to prosecute the
perpetrators of this fraud to the full extent of the law,"
said Kelda Helen Roys, Executive Director of NARAL Pro-Choice
Wisconsin, and an attorney.
Anyone with
information or who received a call is urged to save the message
and document as much information about the call as possible, and
call NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin immediately at (608) 287-0016,
extension 3.
10/31/04
[Permalink] UPDATED
11/2/04
Wisconsin GOP intensifies
vote suppression efforts using more than 37000 last-minute vote
challenges based on supposedly invalid voter addresses - even though
their first batch of alleged "incorrect" addresses had
hundreds that were correct Reader
HR sent in this
article from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, which covered the
GOP's first challenge (bold text is my emphasis):
Amid a renewed push
Friday by Republicans to get some 5,600 names removed from Milwaukee
voting lists, prosecutors began examining 500 new registrants that a
city review indicated are from non-existent addresses.
The same review by
the city attorney's office, however, raised doubts about the quality
of the GOP's original list, finding that hundreds of the addresses
that the Republicans claim are invalid and want removed do, in fact,
exist. Some others, according to City Attorney Grant Langley, can be
explained by data entry errors, not attempted fraud.
Meanwhile, city and
state officials are working this weekend to establish a safeguard
system that will - by Tuesday - highlight any addresses still in
question.
The one certainty:
Many Milwaukee voters will face extra scrutiny by poll workers, who
are already expecting an intense crush of voters.
The Republicans
are unlikely, however, to get the remedy they sought Friday from the
state Election Board - the wholesale striking of 5,619 names from
the rolls.
...
Late Friday,
Langley outlined the review situation in a letter to Lisa Artison,
head of the city Election Commission.
The letter said
the review by his staff and the district attorney's office found
cases where the database used by the GOP was corrupted, dropping
digits on some homes so otherwise valid addresses showed up as
non-existent.
In other cases, a
check of the original handwritten registration cards showed digits
had been transposed by clerks, something that can be corrected at
the polls.
Langley's letter
says the review casts "doubt on the overall accuracy" of
the GOP list and the way it was compiled.
At least some of the
addresses will be investigated for possible fraud, however.
The letter notes the
DA's office decided to focus its efforts on names on the GOP list
who registered since the April 6 election. There are about 900
new registrants among the 5,600 questioned addresses.
The city review
showed about 400 of those names are from addresses that do exist.
That leaves about 500
to be reviewed. It is unclear whether any review will be complete by
Tuesday. Those addresses will be included in an under-development
list of ones the city feels should be flagged, with anyone claiming
them required to show identification.
...
The state GOP challenged the 5,619 addresses on Wednesday, three
minutes before the deadline. On Thursday, during a special meeting,
the city Election Commission - two Democrats and one Republican -
voted 3-0 to deny the request, saying the party had not sufficiently
made its case.
...
Langley, like Mayor Tom Barrett, acknowledges there are
non-existent or suspect addresses on the GOP list. But they say it
is due to many factors, not a case of massive voter fraud as some
have intimated.
The Republicans have
not said how many votes had been cast from the 5,619 addresses in
recent elections. Of the 34 non-existent addresses it verified and
photographed, nine showed recent votes.
In its appeal, the
party makes its own address blunder. It lists the address of the
city Election Commission as 901 N. 9th St. That address is for the
Milwaukee County Courthouse - not City Hall.
Lato acknowledged
human error may be a factor in the bad addresses but noted they
are an invitation for fraud: "As long as they're on the list,
somebody can vote from them."
While the
Republicans cited a Journal Sentinel review that attempted to locate
74 addresses and found 68 of them did not exist, Democrats cited the
same review that showed in some cases clerical errors - such as
transposed digits - appeared to be at fault.
...
Republicans did a similar computer check for bad addresses in
Racine, Appleton, Madison and Green Bay. They did not file any
complaints elsewhere, however.
Via
reader HR, here is an update
from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel on the second batch of
ultra-last minute vote challenges from the GOP (bold text is my
emphasis):
Citing a new list
of more than 37,000 questionable addresses, the state Republican
Party demanded Saturday that Milwaukee city officials require
identification from all of those voters Tuesday.
If the city doesn't, the
party says it is prepared to have volunteers challenge each
individual - including thousands who might be missing an apartment
number on their registration - at the polls.
The move, which
dramatically escalates the party's claims of bad addresses and
potential fraud, was condemned by Democrats as a last-minute effort
to suppress turnout in the city by creating long delays at the
polls.
City officials,
who already were trying to establish safeguards in response to the
party's claim of 5,619 bad addresses, were surprised by the 37,180
number, nearly seven times larger.
"It's not a leap
at all to say the potential for voter fraud is high in the city, and
the integrity of the entire election, frankly, is at stake,"
said Rick Graber, state GOP chairman. "The city's records are
in horrible shape."
Any inaccurate
address, he said, is an opening for someone to cast a fraudulent
vote. However, many of the new addresses now cited might be
eligible voters who have voted for years without problems.
City Attorney
Grant Langley labeled the GOP request "outrageous."
"We have
already uncovered hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of addresses on
their (original list) that do exist," said Langley, who holds a
non-partisan office. "Why should I take their word for the fact
this new list is good? I'm out of the politics on this, but this is
purely political."
...
The initial GOP
challenge, which was dismissed 3-0 by the city Election Commission
last week, cited thousands of cases where no voter address
exists, such as vacant lots and, in one case, a gyros stand.
It was the result of
using a computer to compare the city's list of 386,526 registered
voters to a U.S. Postal Service list of known addresses.
The same list
generated about 13,300 cases where incorrect apartment numbers were
listed, and some 18,200 more cases where no apartment number was
listed for an existing building. However, the party didn't include
any of those in its original challenge, filed three minutes before
the 5 p.m. Wednesday deadline.
Legally, neither
the city nor the state Elections Board is required to consider any
of the newly identified addresses by Tuesday.
In an interview with
the Journal Sentinel, Graber acknowledged the party is asking local
officials, including the Milwaukee County district attorney's
office, to voluntarily take the step as the right thing to do.
Asked why the party
was not asking other communities to take the same voluntary
precautions and computer check their lists before Tuesday, Graber
said the Milwaukee voter list is a "mess" and cause for
great alarm.
"You mean why
aren't we doing this in Wausau?" he said. "We certainly
could."
After a pause, he
added: "And perhaps should."
Democrats say the
effort is designed to give the impression it will be difficult to
vote in Milwaukee, in hopes of giving an advantage to President Bush
over Democratic Sen. John Kerry.
"There's a real
disturbing pattern of them making these charges in Wisconsin and in
Ohio," said George Twigg, state spokesman for the Kerry
campaign. "It's disappointing that they're continuing to beat
this dead horse when they've already been proven wrong."
Democrats intend to
have a full force of lawyers at polling places to protect the rights
of voters, not just in the city but throughout the state, he said.
...
The new addresses
offered Saturday by Republicans muddied an already complicated
matter and could slow down attempts under way to institute
safeguards on the initial list.
In conjunction
with the Milwaukee County district attorney's office, the city
attorney's office began reviewing the 5,619 names Friday. It found
many cases where an address does not exist but also hundreds where
it believes an address does exist.
The Journal Sentinel
reviewed 74 of the addresses on the original list and found 68 of
those do not exist. Others, though, were likely to be clerical
errors.
Citing its
expanded list, the GOP argues any address deficiency, such as no
apartment number listed, constitutes an invalid registration.
Langley said he is
not prepared to try to review more than 37,000 addresses by Monday,
which would be necessary in order to be confident any
"watch" lists given to poll workers do not include any
valid addresses.
"Here we are
Saturday night at 5 p.m., and they're going to drop 37,000 names on
me?" Langley said. "There has got to be a deadline for a
reason."
Graber said the city
or district attorney's office could use the same method and generate
its own list in about three hours. However, the same process would
yield the same names. Langley is questioning the quality of
approach, based on problems already found in the GOP's original
list.
Lisa Artison, head of
the city Election Commission, said she takes any challenge or claim
of fraud seriously.
"We're all very
concerned about the timing of this newest development," she
said, declining further comment.
Critics said the late
maneuver is a transparent effort to generate publicity and cast an
unwarranted shadow over city voters, a majority of whom are expected
to vote Democratic.
"People
certainly can come to their own conclusions," said Martha Love,
chair of the Milwaukee County Democratic Party, noting a similar
review was not done for Republican areas such as Bayside. "But
if it's not voter intimidation or suppression, then what's the
point?"
Kevin Kennedy,
executive director of the state Elections Board, has been working
with the city on the 5,619 addresses to put safeguards in place that
would flag questionable addresses.
"The concern the
board has is the pall it casts over the process," he said
Saturday.
Langley indicated
Friday the district attorney's office was reviewing about 500 new
voter registrations that appear to be from non-existent addresses.
Via Buzzflash,
an article in the Post-Crescent:
A
review by the city attorney’s office has found that hundreds of
addresses the state Republican Party claimed were incorrect or
nonexistent do exist.
Milwaukee elections
officials earlier this week voted 3-0 to reject a GOP complaint
seeking to eliminate 5,619 people from voter registration lists. The
party appealed Friday to the state Elections Board, asking it to
intervene and remove the names.
State Republican
Party spokesman Chris Lato said allowing votes from those addresses
would amount to fraud. He said the party found more bad addresses on
Friday and questioned the notion that the list had significant
problems.
“Nobody is
disputing the vast majority of these are bad addresses,” Lato
said.
But Milwaukee City
Attorney Grant Langley said in a letter to city election commission
executive director Lisa Artison that a review by his staff and the
district attorney’s office found cases where the party’s
database was corrupted and had dropped digits on some homes, so
otherwise valid addresses showed up as nonexistent.
Langley’s letter
said the review casts “doubt on the overall accuracy” of the GOP
list and the way it was compiled.
At least some of the
addresses will be investigated for fraud. Langley said the DA’s
office is focusing on about 900 names on the GOP list who registered
since the April 6 election.
Via Voter's
Digest, here's an update from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:
Republican and City of
Milwaukee leaders reached an agreement Sunday ending a faceoff over
thousands of registered voters with questionable addresses.
Under the agreement,
a list of 5,512 prospective city voters whose addresses are
questionable will be distributed to polling places.
Those on the list who
show up to vote will be asked to fill out a change of address card
or registration form, and to show proof of residency - a driver's
license, utility bill or some other document showing an address -
before casting their ballot.
Anyone without proof
of residency at an address on the list will have to take an oath,
and that person's ballot will be marked as being challenged by the
poll worker.
The agreement ends a
dispute between the Republican Party of Wisconsin and Milwaukee city
officials, who last week denied the GOP's petition to throw out
5,619 names.
Republicans on
Saturday came up with a new list of more than 37,000 questionable
addresses, and they demanded that Milwaukee city officials require
identification from that large number of voters before they would be
allowed to cast ballots.
City Attorney Grant
Langley had called that request "outrageous." He said a
check of the original list of 5,619 registrations had found
"hundreds and hundreds and hundreds" of legitimate
addresses.
In the agreement, the
city will use a list of only 5,512 names, not the list of 37,000.
Republican Party
Chairman Rick Graber said the agreement will offer another layer of
protection to assure that fraudulently cast votes won't be counted.
"With today's
announcement, Milwaukee city officials are acknowledging a
substantial problem exists with thousands of faulty or non-existent
addresses currently found on the city's voter registration rolls and
they are beginning to deal with it," Graber said in a
statement.
List
alphabetical, by ward
Langley said city
elections officials decided the list of 5,512 was something they
could handle and distribute to poll workers. Prospective voters on
the list will be identified by ward and in alphabetical order.
"No, we're not
disappointed. I think it's workable," Langley said. "With
this agreement, it really allows our poll workers to deal with this
list. In all likelihood, there will be no need for outside
challenges by individuals."
One day after
Republicans filed the complaint over 5,619 registrations last week,
the three-member city Election Commission unanimously denied it,
saying the evidence wasn't strong enough.
So the Republicans
again ran the list of addresses of more than 300,000 people
registered to vote in the city using a software program also used by
the U.S. Postal Service and determined that 5,512 were questionable.
That meant, the GOP said, the addresses didn't exist or were parks,
vacant lots or spots between two houses.
State Elections Board
Executive Director Kevin Kennedy said even though the Milwaukee
Election Commission denied the GOP's petition, city officials were
intent on taking some action to lessen the perception that
Milwaukee's voter rolls were rife with fraud.
"Our sense was
we wanted to get away from any widespread perception of fraud,"
Kennedy said Sunday. "One way to do that was to set up a system
that if the voters came to the polling place we'd have a way to
check their address."
In many cases,
Kennedy said, the addresses are questionable because of a data entry
error - someone transposed numbers while keying them in to the
computer system.
Even though
Republicans backed off on the list of 37,000, Graber said the party
reserves the right to challenge anything fishy on election day. More
than 10,000 Republicans have volunteered to be observers at polling
places in Wisconsin.
Langley said this is
how the list of 5,512 will be used on election day:
- If a voter on the
list goes to a polling place and identifies his or her address
as being one of those that the GOP list says doesn't exist, that
person will have to fill out a change of address form or, in
some circumstances, another voter registration form.
- The voter will
have to show a proof of residency, such as a utility bill or
lease.
- If the voter
insists that he or she lives at the exact address the GOP says
doesn't exist, the person can still vote, but the vote will be
challenged by a poll worker. That means the voter will be given
an oath by the poll worker and asked to say name and address.
- Challenged votes
will be counted but will be marked as challenged.
10/30/04
[Permalink]
College Republicans at
the University of Wisconsin and Congressional GOP candidate keep up
the rich tradition of their national counterparts by distributing
flyer to students with wrong voting information; they have since
apologized for the "honest error" Via
reader TK, we have this
report in the Capital Times:
UW-Madison students
in six residence halls received misleading information this week
about how to vote, triggering allegations of dirty tricks.
The Dave Magnum for
Congress campaign and the College Republicans took responsibility
and apologized for the mailing Friday evening, insisting it was an
honest error.
But a progressive
group called it a deliberate attempt to confuse student voters. And
University of Wisconsin-Madison Chancellor John Wiley, saying he was
concerned that students might not know where to vote, had e-mails
sent to all students Friday afternoon containing correct
information.
A flier carrying a
photo of Magnum, the 2nd Congressional District Republican
candidate, urged students to "vote at the polling place of your
choice." It was mailed to students in numerous residence halls,
university spokesman John Lucas said. The flier listed five
locations on campus where students could "choose" to vote.
But in reality, each
student is eligible to vote in only one place. Each residence hall
is assigned to a specific polling station.
The flier said at the
top "Students for Magnum," and at the bottom,
"Authorized and paid for by College Republicans."
Adam Peer, campaign
manager for Magnum for Congress, said Friday night he and his
organization take responsibility for the mailing but called it an
honest error.
Peer said the College
Republicans were not responsible for the flier.
He said his group had
done what it could to pull back the fliers, and was preparing to
distribute new ones at UW-Madison and two schools that didn't get
the first flier, UW-Whitewater and Beloit College.
"There's no
malicious intent, no evil afoot," Peer said, adding that the
purpose of the mailing was to encourage students to vote. The
campaign generates a lot of printed material, he said. "It was
an oversight on my part. I should have been more diligent. I'm the
campaign director, and the buck stops with me."
Magnum's opponent,
U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, issued a statement noting that
distribution of incorrect voting information could be grounds for
prosecution.
"This is either
a case of utter incompetence or a purposeful effort to mislead
voters on campus," Baldwin said.
Meanwhile, a past
president of the College Republicans told university officials that
the group was responsible for the flier, apologized, and said it was
an honest mistake, said Lori Berquam, associate dean of students.
Two officials with
the College Republicans did not return phone calls from The Capital
Times seeking comment.
"They're making
amends," Berquam said. "They're pulling down the posters,
working together to get a new flier. That's what he said. They were
certainly trying to rectify the situation."
Eric Phillips, a
spokesman for the progressive group America Coming Together, said he
doesn't buy the apologies.
"It's pretty
ridiculous. It's a pretty blatant attempt to disorient and confuse
student voters. It's pretty sickening; these are college kids
putting this stuff out and suppressing their peers and their
colleagues," Phillips said in an interview.
"They might
apologize when they get caught, but if nobody had made any mention
of this, they wouldn't be apologizing. Tens of thousands of students
wouldn't know where to vote."
UW responds: The university will ensure, through
its e-mail system and Web
page, that students know where to vote, Lucas said.
The state Democratic
Party said it will have dormitory captains in each college residence
hall throughout the state on Tuesday, helping people know where to
vote.
10/28/04
[Permalink] UPDATED
11/1/04
In Milwaukee, Wisconsin,
fraudulent flyer being circulated in African-American neighborhoods to
suppress their votes through "warnings" Dailykos
has a scanned copy of the flyer here. Some of its despicable
content:
MILWAUKEE BLACK
VOTERS LEAGUE
SOME WARNINGS FOR
ELECTION TIME IF
YOU'VE ALREADY VOTED IN ANY ELECTION THIS YEAR YOU CAN'T VOTE IN THE
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IF
YOU'VE EVER BEEN FOUND GUILTY OF ANYTHING, EVEN A TRAFFIC VIOLATION
YOU CAN'T VOTE IN THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IF
ANYBODY IN YOUR FAMILY HAS EVER BEEN FOUND GUIULTY [sic] OF ANYTHING
YOU CAN'T VOTE IN THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION THE
TIME TO REGISTER FOR VOTING HAS EXPIRED. IF YOU HAVEN'T REGISTERED
YOU CAN'T ANYMORE. IF
YOU VIOLATE ANY OF THESE LAWS YOU CAN GET TEN YEARS IN PRISON AND
YOUR CHILDREN WILL GET TAKEN AWAY FROM YOU
Reader HR emailed in an
article from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel which covered this
(bold text is my emphasis):
A flier issuing false
"warnings" about voting in Tuesday's election is being
denounced by supporters of Democratic Sen. John Kerry as a fear
tactic aimed at scaring off first-time Milwaukee black voters.
A Republican Party
spokesman questioned whether the flier was a trick by pro-Kerry
forces aimed at discrediting Republicans.
The flier, which
surfaced this week, is headlined as coming from the "Milwaukee
Black Voters League," an apparently fictional name. Some of the
fliers were handed out Wednesday near N. 6th and W. Walnut streets
on the city's north side, said Phil Walzak, local spokesman for
America Coming Together, a pro-Kerry advocacy organization.
Walzak said two ACT
volunteers reported having seen the fliers distributed from that
location. Few details about how extensively the flier was
distributed or who might have been responsible have surfaced.
"This is a
targeted effort to dissuade and intimidate new voters," Walzak
said.
State Republican
Party spokesman Chris Lato called the flier "appalling"
and said the GOP had nothing to do with it. Lato suggested that a
pro-Kerry group might have distributed the flier as a way to cast
blame on Republicans.
Lato said a
Republican volunteer had received a flier from someone on the street
in Milwaukee identifying themselves with the Republican Party.
The flier
inaccurately states that anyone who already had voted this year
cannot vote in the presidential election; that anyone convicted of
any offense, however minor, is ineligible to vote; that if any
family member has any conviction, it also disqualifies other family
members from voting; and that it's too late for unregistered voters
to vote.
The flier also states
that "if you violate any of these laws you can get 10 years in
prison and your children will be taken from you."
Milwaukee County
District Attorney E. Michael McCann said the flier appeared to be a
crude intimidation tactic and would likely be illegal because it
failed to disclose its author. He asked for anyone with information
on the flier to contact the district attorney's office.
"It's clearly
disinformation and is an attempt to discourage people from
voting," McCann said.
McCann said while
all points on the flier were false, there was particular confusion
among the public about whether or when felons can vote. Felons can
vote if they have completed a prison term and are no longer on
parole or probation, McCann said.
George Twigg,
Wisconsin spokesman for Kerry's presidential campaign, called the
flier "troubling" and said it appeared aimed at
discouraging new voters.
"It's certainly
a dirty trick, but who is behind it remains to be seen," Twigg
said. Kerry campaign lawyers were trying to find out who was
responsible for the flier, Twigg said.
Merrill Smith, a
spokeswoman for President Bush's campaign, said: "We will not
tolerate any effort to suppress or intimidate voters." [eRiposte
note: Right!]
10/14/04
[Permalink] UPDATED 10/21/04
Milwaukee County
Executive and GOP BC04 Co-Chair refuses to print additional ballots
despite indications of large voter mobilization/turnout this year;
after criticism and further discussions he relents I
find the reason given (concern over "fraud") quite
ridiculous. Preventing fraud by not printing more ballots? You prevent
fraud by investing in systems to identify fraud!
Via reader
PT, here's this report in the
Guardian:
The mayor has
requested more ballots for the Nov. 2 election, but the county
executive has refused to provide them, citing concerns about voter
fraud.
Mayor Tom Barrett
complained that the 679,000 ballots the county agreed to print were
less than the number prepared for elections in 2000 and 2002. He
asked for almost 260,000 additional ballots, expecting a large
turnout next month.
But in a letter,
Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker said he had ``serious
questions'' about the need for that many ballots because the city
reported having 382,000 registered voters in September. He said
``chaos'' could occur at understaffed polling places where voters
could grab ballots.
City officials said
the request for additional ballots was an effort to prevent
shortages because some wards have run out in the past. They say some
ballots will be ``spoiled'' by voters' mistakes, and Wisconsin's
same-day voter registration makes turnout unpredictable.
``I'm going to lay
this at the footsteps of the county if there aren't enough ballots
in the city,'' Barrett said.
By law, the county
pays for and prints ballots.
Barrett and Walker
both hold nonpartisan offices, but Walker is a state co-chairman of
President Bush's campaign, and Barrett is state co-chairman of Sen.
John Kerry's campaign.
UPDATE 10/21/04:
Via Dailykos,
we have this
update:
Originally,
the county's election commission planned to provide 679,500 ballots
for the city, which has about 424,000 residents old enough to vote.
But Barrett said the
number of ballots the county had agreed to print in each ward was
less than the amount prepared for the presidential election in 2000
and the gubernatorial race in 2002. Walker disputed that.
On Friday, the two
announced a new plan under which the county election commission
would print 938,300 ballots for the city election commission.
"The people in
the city of Milwaukee and the county of Milwaukee can feel confident
there will be an adequate number of ballots," Barrett said.
The city said it will
return all the unused ballots to the county election commission
after Nov. 2 to ensure all ballots are accounted for. The county is
in charge of printing ballots for municipalities.
"This solution
guarantees that all votes are counted and all ballots are accounted
for," Walker said.
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