Milwaukee: City OK'd 1,305 flawed voter cards

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel ^ | 1/28//05 | GREG J. BOROWSKI

[Jean S]

City OK'd 1,305 flawed voter cards

People were allowed to cast ballots, despite filling out same-day registrations with wrong information

By GREG J. BOROWSKI
gborowski@journalsentinel.com

Posted: Jan. 27, 2005

Milwaukee officials said Thursday that 1,305 same-day voter registration cards from the Nov. 2 election could not be processed, including more than 500 cases where voters listed no address and dozens more where no name was written on the card.

Invalid Addresses

This City of Milwaukee same-day voter registration card was filled out by a person who was allowed to vote in the Nov. 2 election despite having incomplete information or an address outside of the city.

Problems With Registration Cards

City election officials say that 1,305 same-day registration cards could not be processed for a variety of reasons. Here is a breakdown of why those cards were kicked back.
No address listed: 548
Missing or incomplete date of birth: 236
No voter number listed: 155
Address not in city: 141
No identification information listed: 120
No name listed: 48
No signature: 28
Illegible: 23
Invalid address: 6

Source: City of Milwaukee Election Commission.

Related Coverage

Editorial: Election probe welcome

Milwaukee's Election Woes

Democrat John Kerry carried Wisconsin in the Nov. 2 election by a slim 11,384 votes over President Bush and took more than 70% of the vote in Milwaukee. Questions are continuing to be raised, however, about ballots cast in Milwaukee, where Kerry’s margin over Bush was 123,000 votes. Among the concerns:
The number of people listed on the city’s voter rolls as having voted in the Nov. 2 election is about 8,300 fewer than the number of ballots cast.
Some of that is a result of 1,305 same-day voter registration cards that could not be processed because of many problems with them.
That still leaves a gap of more than 7,000 people who voted and cannot be accounted for in city records.
In addition to the cards that could not be processed, city officials say nearly 2,800 verification cards were undeliverable.
In a separate review, the Journal Sentinel uncovered more than 1,200 ballots cast from invalid addresses in the city. At least 186 of those ballots were cast from addresses that were among those challenged as non-existent by the state Republican Party days before the election.
The newspaper’s analysis also found hundreds of cases in which people already registered in Milwaukee wound up registering again on election day, causing their names to be entered twice on the city’s voter rolls.

Recent Coverage

1/26/05: Police, FBI join investigation into possible election fraud
1/25/05: Over 1,200 voters’ addresses found invalid
1/20/05: Evaluation of election begins
1/18/05: Unsent voter cards don't signal fraud, official says
1/14/05: Lawmaker criticizes voter verification process

Credits

Journal Sentinel reporters Tom Kertscher and Gina Barton contributed to this report.

From the Archives

Section: Nov. 2 elections coverage

But the revelation of the actual number of cards that couldn't be processed, far lower than previous estimates of 8,300 or more, raised new concerns, because it leaves a clear gap of more than 7,000 people who voted on Nov. 2 and cannot be accounted for in city records.

The problematic same-day registration cards, the number of which was revealed in response to a Journal Sentinel open records request, could quickly become the focus of a major investigation launched Wednesday into potential voter fraud in the city of Milwaukee.

That effort comes after the newspaper's report finding more than 1,200 votes listed as being cast from invalid addresses. Milwaukee County District Attorney E. Michael McCann and U.S. Attorney Steve Biskupic are overseeing the probe with help from the Milwaukee Police Department and the FBI.

While the framework of the joint investigation is still being developed, James Finch, the special agent in charge of the FBI's local office, said Thursday that the bureau's first task will be to look at questionable voter registration cards.

The city's own breakdown of the 1,305 cards that could not be processed showed 548 people were given ballots without listing an address on the cards and another 48 did not provide a name.

And among many other problems, 141 gave addresses later found to not be in the city. One of the cards provided to the newspaper shows a voter clearly listing "Wauwatosa" as her city of residence. Nevertheless, she received a ballot and voted in Milwaukee.

It is possible she filled out the card wrong, listing a Wauwatosa address where her Milwaukee address should have been. The woman, whose phone is disconnected, could not be reached Thursday night.

Widespread failure

The new information shocked critics of the state's election laws and of how Milwaukee ran its election. Democrat John Kerry topped President Bush in Wisconsin by 11,384 votes - one of the narrowest margins in the nation.

"The system is obviously failing in a major way," said state Rep. Jeff Stone (R-Greendale), who with nine other Republican lawmakers has also asked state auditors to review the Milwaukee election. "If the card is not complete, they should not be handed a ballot."

In addition to the cards that could not be processed, city officials have had nearly 2,800 verification cards - out of 73,079 sent out - returned as undeliverable. State law requires those be submitted to the district attorney's office.

That number is higher than the 1,200 invalid addresses found by the Journal Sentinel, because the newspaper's review did not cover apartment buildings, due to problems in how the addresses appear in data bases.

Lisa Artison, executive director of the city's Election Commission, said "layer upon layer" of human error likely is to blame for the problems, which came as election workers faced a crush of voters, tens of thousands of whom registered at the polls.

"Obviously, our goal is to serve the voters as effectively as possible," Artison said. "With an election of this magnitude, there are going to be mistakes, and we are working to correct them."

Mayor Tom Barrett reiterated his confidence in Artison and pledged that the process will be improved.

"We will look at all options to see what we can do," said Barrett, who was elected in April. "Obviously, it's a system I inherited."

Barrett said the problems did not shake his belief that voters shouldn't face a requirement to show a photo identification card at the polls before getting a ballot. He said the requirement would be a burden on some voters, particularly the elderly.

Stone and Sen. Joe Leibham (R-Sheboygan) soon are expected to introduce a photo ID bill, something Gov. Jim Doyle opposes and likely would veto.

Such a requirement may not have prevented the problems surrounding Milwaukee's registration cards - all of which, if current law was followed, should have come from people who provided identification.

Nevertheless, the 1,305 cards that could not be processed suggest a major breakdown in the system, which is meant to capture names and addresses of everyone who votes.

For instance, 236 cards had missing or incomplete dates of birth, so the person cannot be identified fully.

In nearly two dozen cases, the cards were deemed illegible. On 155 of the cards, the voter got a ballot even though the card did not list a voter number, a key step in reconciling poll-site logs to the number of votes cast.

Unexplained gap

Indeed, the release of the actual number of cards that could not be processed in many ways deepened concerns about the gap between ballots and voters.

In Milwaukee, 277,535 ballots were cast in the Nov. 2 election. The city's own election records show only 269,212 people as having voted, however.

That gap of about 8,300 appeared to represent the number of same-day registration cards that could not be processed. The number originally had been put at more than 10,000, based on estimates the city sent to the state.

If only about 1,300 cards could not be processed, that still leaves a gap of about 7,000.

In reality, though, the gap is larger. The newspaper has found hundreds of cases where the same person is listed as voting twice, something officials attribute to a computer "glitch" when their information was entered into the city's computer system.

Asked what could account for the remaining gap, Artison said there are many possibilities. Among them: Clerks who, after the election, scanned voter log books from the city's 312 wards may have missed some bar codes that are used to track each voter.

"There is a huge window for human error," said Artison. "They might miss a page. They might miss several pages. And there is a margin for human error at the polling places."

Milwaukee Ald. Mike D'Amato said, despite the recent criticism, he thought the city election was conducted well.

He noted the 1,200 votes from invalid addresses found by the newspaper represented about 0.4% of the total votes cast. D'Amato said the investigation by McCann and Biskupic was prompted by partisan complaints.

"The problems are a function of the openness of our system and exist statewide," he said. "Yet they continue to attack Milwaukee."

In response to the newspaper's request to see the cards, the city provided what it termed a random sample of 50 of them - and has agreed to provide copies of the rest.

Of the 50, 20 had no address listed for the voter who received a ballot. It is possible the person provided ID but did not completely fill out the card. However, the lack of address makes it difficult to verify if the voter was eligible.

Nine of the cards showed addresses outside the city. It is possible a person's identification card shows a "Milwaukee" address, even if the address is in the suburbs. The address would then have been rejected when entered into the computers, which kick out those outside the "address range" for the city.

It is unclear whether these people voted in other communities in addition to Milwaukee.

Journal Sentinel reporters Tom Kertscher and Gina Barton contributed to this report

From the Jan. 28, 2005, editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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[mike182d]

All Republicans to be sure. /sarcasm

[Rutles4Ever]

Oh, man, my right eye is tired...

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Republicans have done a poor job in letting the vote fraud issue be lost to the Democrats. Somehow, it is the Dems who run around wringing their hands about vote fraud whereas, as this article illustrates as just one small example, the overwhelming majority of voter fraud is of, by and for Democrats.

I wager that if, nationally, every person legally registered to vote and wishing to do so did indeed have his vote counted, and no illegal votes were cast or counted, Republicans would benefit by hundreds of thousands and possibly millions of votes.

Yet somehow the Dems have managed to outmaneuver the GOP on the issue and portray themselves as the victims.

[newgeezer]

Ditto. !O)

[txroadhawg]

This has really got to stop. I dont care if the fraud favored on party or another, it's still fraud. We have 2 years to come up with a fool proof way to register and vote, can it be that hard?

[Wally_Kalbacken]

I last voted in Wisconsin in 1994, but I recall how lazy and inefficient the voting process was then. Here in Georgia we have comprehensive electronic balloting - and I think you could see about 99% of precincts in by about 11:00 pm EST on election day. [Particularly gratifying was the 4:1 Bush margin in my county - that was a sweet thing to see before midnight.] So we're pretty efficient at balloting. I don't know what to say about the efficiency and accuracy of our registration process, however. I hope it beats the practice in Milwaukee County!

It's 2005, and we have countless examples of six-sigma quality in private industry processes involving information requirements infinitely more complex than properly identifying and registering a voter. Let's get this right before 2008. And to the Democrats in Wisconsin - no, there is nothing wrong with either requiring a high standard of proof of identification at the polls or in imposing an advance registration requirement.

I'd recommend that a resident of Milwaukee County get into the Federal Courts with a "one man - one vote" claim - arguing that they were discriminated against by having their vote underweighted by virtue of all these illegitimate voters (which was a byproduct of the "state" action -  the knuckleheaded voting administration apparatus in Milwaukee County). It may take some time to work through the case - so get started now. Sadly it might be much faster than a legislative solution.

[NonValueAdded]

Excellent idea ... also, although it hurts to say it, a federal judge could take over administration of the elections office as they did with school systems all over the country. Can you say Federal District Judge W. Arthur Garrity Jr.?

[expatpat]

Milwaukee's Election Woes

Democrat John Kerry carried Wisconsin in the Nov. 2 election by a slim 11,384 votes over President Bush and took more than 70% of the vote in Milwaukee. Questions are continuing to be raised, however, about ballots cast in Milwaukee, where Kerry's margin over Bush was 123,000 votes. Among the concerns:

The number of people listed on the city's voter rolls as having voted in the Nov. 2 election is about 8,300 fewer than the number of ballots cast.

Some of that is a result of 1,305 same-day voter registration cards that could not be processed because of many problems with them.

That still leaves a gap of more than 7,000 people who voted and cannot be accounted for in city records. In addition to the cards that could not be processed, city officials say nearly 2,800 verification cards were undeliverable.

In a separate review, the Journal Sentinel uncovered more than 1,200 ballots cast from invalid addresses in the city. At least 186 of those ballots were cast from addresses that were among those challenged as non-existent by the state Republican Party days before the election.

The newspaper's analysis also found hundreds of cases in which people already registered in Milwaukee wound up registering again on election day, causing their names to be entered twice on the city's voter rolls.

[steveegg]

Earlier thread with excerpted version here

[Timeout]

***LOOK WHAT I FOUND!***

I was reading the Sentinel this morning and noticed that "Nov. Election" button in the sidebar. I clicked on it and found an interesting article from Thursday, Nov. 4th
---two days after the election.

State workers helped in race to add voters to city rolls

I'll summarize it.

On the afternoon before the election, Gov. Doyle says he "learned of the large quantity of voter registration forms still waiting to be processed" in Milwaukee. Mayor Barrett was rounding up volunteers to help. Barrett and Doyle were co-chairs of Kerry's campaign. On Monday Barrett aparently had told the Sentinel that "more than 1,000 registrations" were involved. Ultimately [meaning Thursday?], he "put the figure at 15,000 or 20,000". [They were changing their stories way back then!]

Lisa Artison had no clue how many registrations there were "because they weren't counted". "We don't count them on a day-to-day basis," she said. "Certainly Monday night wasn't the night to count them." [Why not?!] Artison was appointed as elections supervisor last summer after working on the mayor's campaign.

WHAT DID THESE VOLUNTEERS DO?
"Stacks of the unrecorded registrations were divvied up and taken to several city offices, where the volunteers borrowed city computers to use a Web site to determine which ward the new voters should be assigned to". Cards were then divided into stacks by ward to be sent to the polling stations. Artison said she wasn't sure how late the operation went. She went home at 1:30 or 2 a.m. while the volunteers were still at it. The governor's admin secretary, said the state volunteers who helped "were up all night" processing the registrations. The article doesn't mention whether any regular election office workers stayed that night.

WHO WERE THESE VOLUNTEERS?
1) "...about a dozen state employees, some based in Madison and others in Milwaukee...". They were "volunteers and were on their own time".
2) Mayor Barrett worked on the registrations that night. So did his sister and his nephew. And some of his "friends".
3) And "...members of the local painters union..."!
4) I guess we can assume that Republicans were not asked to provide volunteers.

WHAT's WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?
Here we had an elections supervisor allowing unsupervised politically-connected volunteers to have access to the voter data base THE NIGHT BEFORE THE ELECTION. She even left at 2am and let them continue working. She had no idea how many cards there were to begin with. So there would be no way for her to know if someone "ultimately" added cards to the stack. And we don't even know what part of the system these people had access to....could they tamper with VOTES, not just voters?

WERE THERE ACTUALLY 85,000 SAME DAY REGISTRANTS?
Did that amazingly high number of new registrants really show up on election day? How do we know they weren't "manufactured" in the bowels of city hall the night before?

=================================

This needs to be brought to the attention of the new federal task force. I've sent it to a couple of bloggers. The FBI needs to look closely at time stamps on everything that was put in the system that night. And they need to look at those 15-20,000 cards to see if they have recurring handwriting on them. I've always thought that high number of same-day registrants was suspicious. I'm beginning to wonder now whether many of them ever existed at all.

If nothing else Artison should be fired immediately. At BEST she supposedly allowed up to 20,000 registrations to pile up and go unrecorded. At WORST she gave partisans unsupervised access to official voter records on the eve of a very closely contested election...and she didn't even stay to watch what was going on!

(I'm cross-posting this on the other thread, so some of you may get multiple pings.)

[steveegg]

Now where did I put my list of threads? I know it was mentioned on FR, but I'm sure that in all the excitement, nobody picked up on the painters union, or the fact that Lisa "Ms. Fraud 2004" Artison bailed at 2 am with the DemonRAT operatives still there.

[Timeout]

...or that the number of cards grew 15- or 20-fold overnight?!

[steveegg]

...or that the number of cards grew 15- or 20-fold overnight?!

Not quite overnight (the 20,000 was being tossed about the weekend before), but close enough for government work.

On a related note, while the Milwaukee Election Commission decided to honor the Journal Sentinel's Open Records request for the cards that were too fouled to be verified, they completely ignored Owen's (of Boots and Sabers) request.

[Timeout]

The beauty of it is that it's another catch-22 for Artison.
She either let HUGE pile of cards pile up without raising the alarm.
OR, if she wants to claim there weren't 20,000, then she undermines any excuse for letting those partisans put their sticky paws on all that raw data.

She should be fired....toot sweet!

[Timeout]

ping