Posted on 11/04/2004 6:36:01 AM PST by machman
Party asserts that potential for fraud is too great in state
By STEVE SCHULTZE sschultze@journalsentinel.com Posted: Nov. 3, 2004
With the dust from the presidential race still settling - and Wisconsin barely dodging Florida's fate in 2000 - Republicans on Wednesday renewed calls for tightening voting laws to lessen the potential for election fraud.
State Republican Party Chairman Rick Graber and Assembly Speaker John Gard called for changing the law to require voters to show a picture ID card before being allowed to vote. They said that problems Republicans uncovered in Milwaukee underscored the need for the change.
GOP officials charged that thousands of voters in Milwaukee were registered to bad addresses, such as vacant lots, and also complained about a voter registration project with local jail inmates, some of whom were felons and not entitled to vote.
Gard, of Peshtigo, promised that lawmakers would consider a measure to require voter identification at the polls when the Legislature convenes in January.
"Democrats and Republicans alike should be concerned about the incredible problems we had across this state," Gard said. Barrett criticized
Gard blasted Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett's handling of the voter registration problems. "(He) has got to be embarrassed about what happened in Milwaukee," Gard said. "You've got thousands of addresses they know don't exist."
Barrett and Lisa Artison, executive director of the city Election Commission, said Wednesday that voting went smoothly, aside from some long lines at a few polling places. Barrett said those problems were largely confined to 35th Street School and a couple of other voting sites and were corrected by adding poll workers.
Milwaukee County District Attorney E. Michael McCann agreed that voting went well overall. His office is investigating one claim of double-voting and an instance in which a senior citizen who had already voted absentee was given another ballot when he accompanied his wife to the polls. The man didn't use it; instead, he turned it over to McCann's office. Poll observers credited
Hundreds of election observers, favoring either President Bush or Democratic Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, contributed to the smooth running of the election, McCann said. But the large number of observers were a function of the red-hot presidential race and shouldn't be counted on for patrolling future races, he said.
While Republicans continued to stress Wisconsin's vulnerability to election fraud, Democrats and others said the relative lack of problems in Tuesday's election suggested the laws needed no overhaul.
Barrett, Gov. Jim Doyle and McCann - all Democrats - said requiring a picture ID is unnecessary. Most people use a driver's license as their photo identification; those who don't have a license could be discouraged from voting, Barrett said.
Doyle remains staunchly opposed to the photo ID measure, a version of which he vetoed in the last legislative session. He said this year's election fears were "a lot more brouhaha than reality."
Doyle singled out long lines as the most serious problem. That can be rectified for future elections by implementing a planned computerized voter registration list and increasing the number of poll workers, he said. 2 reforms offered
McCann suggested two reforms: better funding for election officials so that well-trained poll inspectors can be hired and voter lists that are regularly updated.
"We are running elections on the cheap," McCann said.
He also said the state should make it illegal to pay a bounty for each new voter registration, a system that can encourage abuses such as ones discovered this year in Milwaukee and Racine.
Assembly Minority Leader Jim Kreuser (D-Kenosha) said Democrats plan to introduce a bill soon that would automatically register people who have a Wisconsin driver's license.
Charles Franklin, a University of Wisconsin-Madison political scientist, said Wisconsin came close to becoming a legal battleground for a contested presidential election - something that likely would have happened had Kerry won in Ohio.
Given the high stakes presidential race, an Ohio win by Kerry might have prompted a post-election effort by Republicans to press charges of Wisconsin balloting problems and seek a recount here, Franklin said.
He said both sides in the presidential race hyped potential problems with the voting process as a way to gain some advantage. In general, Wisconsin's voting problems "aren't that serious," Franklin said.
Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker said most of the extra 277,000 ballots that were provided to the city at Barrett's insistence probably were unneeded, as Walker had argued.
Had Wisconsin turned into a battleground, those extra ballots might have turned into a hot issue, Walker said.
Patrick Marley and Stacy Forster of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.
An idea who's time has come, let's repeal motor/voter.
Yep, should have been taken care of after the 2000 election was stolen in WI.
For later.
Praise the Lord! I would get this done right now nationally while it is still on people's minds and the Republicans have the momemtum.
There are numerous undercurrent tidbits in this article that follow the guideline: Dems want a looser election to garner more votes even if fradulent, and Pubs want a tighter election even if Pubs lose some votes.
I used to think the Dems were fighting "driver's license proof of citizenship/registration" simply because it was "one more extra step" -- and more importantly it would reveal the pro-Dem issue and bias FOR illegal immigrants. Now, my own observation over these years has shown me, it is far more complex.
There is plenty of fraud going on in DMVS all across this nation. And if one checks the political registrations of workers at the DMVs.. one begins to find that curiously, political registration parallels political "identities" of those teaching at our college campuses. Democrats. Dittos, elections boards.
It is time, way time, to address vote fraud. No excuses from the Democrats, no more BS-bluster from them can be nor should be contemplated. IMHO, and IME.
It is time for the Democrats, should they wish to continue to exist as a viable party, to grow up; and to reach across the aisle to Republicans.
About time.
PUSH THE BLUE INTO THE SEA.....and hear the lamentations of their women
How about some legislation re vote fraud crimes? I want to severly punish anyone involved as an individual, but I really want to go after sponsoring or supporting this kind of behavior.
In 1998, we lost Bob Dornan in the house due to undeniable, outright, verifiable voter fraud. And B1-Bob was not the only Republicxan who lost his seat due to voter fraud that year. The real problem was that Republican leadership DID NOTHING. What the democrats heard was: y'all can do whatever you want and we will not object. Lo and behold, in 2000, voter fraud would be a huge factor. Thank the Lord, the Supreme Court stepped in and put the kabosh on the dem's attempt to win thru fraud.
We have laws on the books. We must enforce those laws. We need to clean up the system and ensure the integrity of the vote throughout the land.
Good God! They want to disenfranchise Mary Poppins and Peter Pan. Where will all the poor voter registrars be getting their crack from? I'm absolutely appalled.
sorry, (severely)
Garbage! If a person can take the time to GET a driver's license, and renew it every year, he can take the time to register to vote.
I haven't had to renew my voter registration since I moved to my present home 15 years ago; I've had to renew my driver's license every year.
"I still say fraud has cost the repubs this state two times in a row."
I do believe you are correct. Please ping me on this topic, if you would. Something needs to be done NOW!
I don't quite understand this. Why would you want to do so?
If a picture ID is required to vote (or to get a voter registration card) and a driver's license is an accepted picture ID, why would you not allow someone to register when they are getting their driver's license? Why make them get their driver's license and then go somewhere else to register, using their license as ID?
I'm assuming here that motor/voter still requires the same form to be filled out (verifying US citizenship, non-felon etc.) in order to register. Why make it more difficult? That's not the function of government as I see it. Motor/voter seems to make for more efficient government and therefore a better use of my tax dollars.
Am I missing something?
It is more than time that the Republicans get some guts and do the right thing to see that the fraud is kept to the minimum. Right now I doubt any of us is certain of what the true vote is no matter what the outcome.
The electronic stuff is about all subject to tampering by almost anyone with half a capability with computers, for heaven's sake!
Damn straight!!!
Yes, you are missing something, any illegal alien can apply for a driver lic. in any state and be instantly registered to vote. This law opens the door to vote fraud.
In which state do you live that you have to renew your driver's license every year? Here in Texas, DL renewal is every 4 years (or maybe 5... I forget.) I've only had to register to vote once also. I keep voting, and Texas keeps renewing my voter's registration card automatically, which is as it should be. It's not government's duty to be putting roadblocks in the way of the citizens.
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