Posted on 09/29/2004 7:25:11 AM PDT by fanningp
The Milwaukee Journal/Sentinal reports this morning that an investigation into potential voter registration fraud will be requested by the local Racine city clerk.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/racine/sep04/262511.asp
Voter registration drive comes under scrutiny By TOM KERTSCHER tkertscher@journalsentinel.com Posted: Sept. 28, 2004
Racine - A group that says it has registered 30,000 voters in southeastern Wisconsin could face a criminal investigation because of voter registration applications that may have been filed fraudulently.
Acting Racine City Clerk Carolyn Moskonas said Tuesday she will ask the district attorney's office to investigate at least six voter registration applications filed by Project Vote.
That non-profit organization, which also has filed scores of Racine applications that contain bogus addresses, has fired its Racine-area coordinator because of problems with the filings.
Moskonas said that in each of the six potential fraud cases, the people named on the Project Vote applications told her office they had not signed the forms and had not been contacted by any voter registration drives.
"It was kind of scary," Racine Affirmative Action Officer Jerry Scott said about seeing his name and apparently forged signature on one of the six applications. He was already registered to vote and also registers voters as a volunteer.
"I'm a firm believer that your name is one thing about you that is sacred and it should be protected," Scott said. "Someone forging your name and your signature - I think there should be some pretty strict penalties for that."
Denise Peterson said she also was outraged that her name and signature and those of her husband, Terry Peterson, also were on forms that she said they did not complete or authorize.
"I hope somebody finds out who's doing this," she said.
The same problem has surfaced in neighboring Caledonia, said Town Clerk Wendy Christensen. She has asked Caledonia police to investigate cases in which four residents said they had not signed applications turned into the clerk's office, including at least two submitted by Project Vote.
Whether the possibly fraudulent voter registration applications could lead to any widespread voter fraud seems unlikely, because anyone wanting to vote in someone else's name would have to know which faked applications were processed, Moskonas and Christensen said.
But they said they could not guarantee that they will catch all of the applications that have problems.
Doris Alexander, head of Project Vote in Milwaukee, said she fired Damien Jones, the organization's Racine-Kenosha coordinator, last Friday after she learned there were problems in Racine.
She said she did not know details of the problems and would not comment further on Jones.
"I'm very hopeful that we can resolve this right away," Alexander said. "We're confident that whatever problems that we're having will be eliminated."
Jones, a former Racine resident who is the Green Party candidate for a state Assembly seat in Milwaukee in the Nov. 2 election, said his termination "was pretty much a mutual thing." He said the Racine problems were serious but isolated, given that Project Vote - which pays workers $7 an hour and $1.50 per application after they reach a quota - has filed nearly 1,900 voter registration applications with the city in the past couple of months.
"Project Vote has a very open hiring process, and sometimes you get people who are more worried about getting a paycheck than about doing the right thing," Jones said.
Alexander said Project Vote targets first-time voters and the "disenfranchised" and has filed 30,000 voter registration applications in Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha.
Project Vote is not affiliated with the New Voters Project, which targets people ages 18 to 24. Bruce Speight, the New Voters Project's Wisconsin director, said his organization has filed 122,000 voter registration applications in the state.
Moskonas said she hoped this week to provide details of the six possible fraud cases to the district attorney's office.
Deputy District Attorney Michael Nieskes said his office probably would ask Racine police or the Sheriff's Department to investigate.
Most of these fraud investigations don't actually take place until after the elections -- and then the perps gt off with a slap on the wrist. Really, folks we've got to do something about this. Besides turning out to vote ourselves, we've got to demand photo ID at thepolls.
Although there is definate fraud attempts, it appears that officials are investigating. Does give me some comfort. If this is widespread, some will get caught and their id and affilliation uncovered. This could be good in the end as far as showing id at polls and the like.
I sure as he11 hope the gop is doing something about this that we don't know about. It's not good enough to simply "hope" or "believe" our lead will be big enough to win any state despite rampant cheating--why take that kind of chance when the stakes are so high?
Someone just related a story on a local talk show that she was approached by a clipboard wearing a "Kerry-Edwards" shirt asking if she was registered to vote. This was on-campus at UW-Milwaukee. She stated she was already registered. The clipboard then said, "Well, why don't you go ahead and register again under your maiden name?"......ARRRRRRRRRGHGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Do you know...how do you go about checking the voter registration roles? Can you just go down to the clerk's office and request a copy? Are new registrations checked against current voter lists?
I heard that Kerry's campaign is asking for lawyers to sit at polls in SE Wisconsin to harras poll workers who demand ID's. I'll try to find a link to that, if anyone has it, please post.
I think most of us have known for quite awhile that Democrats will cheat to win. But I am more worried this election year than any other because of the pure hatred and ignorance many democrats have for Bush. I have no doubt they are committing fraud in this election and I think it's worse than in 2000. I agree we have to do everything we can to stop this fraud and bring it to public attention. We can't just talk about it if we aren't prepared to do whatever we can in our current position to fix the problem. I just hope that the Bush Campaign and the RNC are taking this very serious and have equal or even more resource's to find and prevent these things from happening before the election and on election day. We need an equal amount of lawyers at these polling places if not more. This is a very serious threat and I think the election fraud committed by the Democrats this election is worse than it has been in quite awhile. We have to do whatever it takes to prevent this and get President George W. Bush Re-elected this November.
Please Pass Emergency Anti-Vote Fraud Measure Immediately!
Vote fraud threatens the very core of our republic, and it directly threatens our sovereignty
Please send the following message to your Congressmen and Senators:
Please pass, on an expedited basis, emergency legislation to require voters to show ID at all polling places on Election Day.
Vote fraud threatens the very core of our republic, and it directly threatens our sovereignty. There is a significant amount of evidence emerging that evinces a wide-spread plot to engage in massive voter fraud. Thus, Congress must take immediate action to counter this potential menace.
Congress has the express power to dictate the time, place, and manner in which federal elections are held. The congressional power to make or alter time, place, or manner of federal elections extends to the regulation of voter registration. Federal regulation of the electoral processes, including the regulation of federal voter registration, is also consistent with the Tenth Amendment and permissible; although states do have broad discretion to enact and implement registration procedures, states may not transgress the Constitution. It follows that state voter registration and Election Day statutes that are inconsistent with federal voter registration and Election Day mandates are preempted.
As per the Federal Court in Byrd v. Brice, the government may require a voter to furnish proof of identity at the polling place on Election Day. Such a measure would go a long way in protecting citizens’ federal voting rights from fraudulent practices.
Please set to work immediately on enacting emergency legislation to require a valid ID at the polling places on Election Day.
http://capwiz.com/congressorg/issues/alert/?alertid=6486121&content_dir=ua_congressorg&mailid=custom
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