Huge voter suppression plot exposed in Wisconsin

[RichC]

Mon Sep 20, 2010 at 10:06:48 AM PDT

A massive, coordinated and illegal plan to suppress Wisconsin voter turnout in November was exposed today by One Wisconsin Now (OWN).
The plan, targeting minority voters and students, is a joint effort of the Republican Party, Americans for Prosperity, and Tea Party groups. OWN has somehow obtained both copies of the plan and a recording of a meeting at which it was discussed, both available on a new website, SaveWisconsinVote2010.org
OWN Executive Director Scot Ross said the group will request investigations by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, as well as the Wisconsin Attorney General’s Election Integrity Task Force and the Government Accountability Board, to insure the right to vote is not stolen by these plans.

• xofferson's diary :: ::

The term for what the right-wing intends to do is called "vote caging,"and involves sending mail to addresses on voter lists and using returned mail to challenge voters at the polls on election day.
The result? Some voters are forced to cast provisional ballots, which require them to follow-up the day after an election for the ballot to be counted. Historically, about 35% of all provisional ballots are never counted.
Voters who have no reason to think their registrations will be challenged at the polling place may not have the required material to complete an Election Day registration, so the voter will be turned away or sent home to get more documents.
The challenges may create long lines at the polling place as the caging operation challenges voter after voter. Long lines discourage voters and many simply leave without casting a ballot.
That is why right-wing caging operations target areas which vote overwhelmingly Democratic (like Milwaukee's central city and college campuses.)
One Wisconsin Now obtained an audio recording from a June 12 meeting of leaders of the state’s Tea Party movement, led by Tim Dake, head of the GrandSons of Liberty, and who serves as a regular spokesperson for Wisconsin’s Tea Party organizations and is widely viewed as the movement’s Wisconsin leader.
In the audio Dake lays out the plans, detailing contact between himself and Reince Preibus, the Republican Party of Wisconsin Chair and Mark Block, state director of Americans for Prosperity-Wisconsin. Said Dake:

So, what were hoping is that the various groups in the coalition plus Americans for Prosperity and Mark Block, who has been in on this, and the Republican Party, and this is coming all the way from the top Reince Priebus has said, "We’re in."

It may be illegal for those groups to coordinate such activities under state law, in addition to the federal law.
The clause in the National Voting Rights Act of 1993 (NVRA) which prohibits voter caging to suppress voting is:

Pursuant to the NVRA, a voter may not be removed from the voters list unless (1) the voter has requested removal; (2) state law requires removal by reason of criminal conviction or mental capacity; (3) the voter has confirmed in writing that he has moved outside the jurisdiction maintaining the specific voter list, or (4) the voter both (a) has failed to respond to a cancellation notice issued pursuant to the NVRA and (b) has not voted or appeared to vote in the two federal general elections following the date of notice.

[daveuz]

I wonder if WI most imfamous criminal Bubba is involved.

[4x4_Welder]

Maybe if people kept on top of their voter registration then this wouldn't be an issue. Since many people don't bother with it, or even voting for that matter, it seems to be a non-issue.
Now if the Black Panthers were intimidating people and blockading polling places- Oh wait, that already happened.

[Chas H]

Originally Posted by 4x4_Welder

Now if the Black Panthers were intimidating people and blockading polling places- Oh wait, that already happened.

Where and when?

Do they have something against huge voters? Isn't that discriminatory, especially in the Midwest where most people are huge?

[4x4_Welder]

Originally Posted by Chas H

Where and when?

Take your pick:
http://www.google.com/search?client=ubuntu&channel=fs&q=black+panther+voter+intimidation&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8
I digress, though, facts and evidence are an underhanded tactic for me to use.
I did notice, though, that the Supreme Court threw out the case- Apparently, they don't want to annoy this regime.

[cmbdiesel]

Originally Posted by Craig

Do they have something against huge voters? Isn't that discriminatory, especially in the Midwest where most people are huge?

[cmbdiesel]

Originally Posted by 4x4_Welder

Take your pick:
http://www.google.com/search?client=ubuntu&channel=fs&q=black+panther+voter+intimidation&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8
I digress, though, facts and evidence are an underhanded tactic for me to use.
I did notice, though, that the Supreme Court threw out the case- Apparently, they don't want to annoy this regime.

Glad to see that the using "facts and evidence" thingy didn't last too long....

[LandYaghtLover]

Nothing new. Look how they went after Acorn. Turns out it was all a setup and the organization did nothing wrong. But the media sure played it and the right wings nuts were all over it. In the end people lost jobs and the organization pretty much went belly up. All because of some faked and well edited video.

And as much as I hate republicans for destroying the countries foundations, so much is over-blown. And this may be another case of planning and no follow through.

[Honus]

Originally Posted by 4x4_Welder

Take your pick:
http://www.google.com/search?client=ubuntu&channel=fs&q=black+panther+voter+intimidation&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8
I digress, though, facts and evidence are an underhanded tactic for me to use.

If you are going to get smug, you should at least try to be accurate.

The Black Panthers had nothing to do with that so-called case. That was a couple of knuckleheads who called themselves the New Black Panther party.

I did notice, though, that the Supreme Court threw out the case- Apparently, they don't want to annoy this regime.

Right. Justices Roberts, Alito, Scalia, Thomas, and Kennedy are just so concerned about annoying Obama. That must be why that case went nowhere. A lack of evidence couldn't have had anything to do with it.

[Chas H]

Originally Posted by 4x4_Welder

I did notice, though, that the Supreme Court threw out the case- Apparently, they don't want to annoy this regime.

Or validate your paranoia.

[LUVMBDiesels]

I just wrote to my brother who is a lawyer for the State of Wisconsin and a little to the left of Chavez

I will reserve judgment on this until he tell me if this is real or BS...

ALTHOUGH a quick search in the State or Wi web site turned up this
"Provisional Voting Instructions

for Election Inspectors


In Wisconsin, provisional voting is ONLY used in two situations:
1. If an individual is a first-time voter who registered by mail and has failed to provide the required proof of residence.
2. If an individual has a current and valid Wisconsin driver’s license and does not provide the number (forgot it, doesn’t know the number, or refuses).

In situation #1, the voter list provided by the municipal clerk will contain the notation “ID Required” to identify those first-time voters who registered by mail and who must show proof of residence before being allowed to vote. If an individual fails to provide the required proof of residence, and cannot register at the polling place by using a corroborator to attest to residency, he/she may vote by provisional ballot.

In situation #2, individuals who have been issued a Wisconsin driver’s license must provide the license number on the registration form (EB-131). Individuals who have a Wisconsin driver’s license may NOT use the last four (4) digits of their Social Security number or Wisconsin state ID card to register. If an individual who has a Wisconsin driver’s license is unable to provide the number, he/she may vote by provisional ballot.

Information for voters on this process can be found here.

There are NO other situations where provisional voting may be used."

Does not sound like this is anything more than BS to me...

Linkee:
elections.state.wi.us/docview.asp?docid=9192

[RichC]

A little background on what has happened in previous Wisconsin elections.


WI Attorney General Battles State Over Voter Registration Checks

By Kate Klonick - September 23, 2008, 5:20PM
As the presidential election nears, and Wisconsin proves itself to once again be a battleground state, J.B. Van Hollen, the state attorney general and co-chair of the Wisconsin McCain campaign, is raising the specter of voting fraud.

Van Hollen filed suit earlier this month, against the state Government Accountability Board (GAB) which oversees elections in Wisconsin, demanding that they verify all of the voter registrations made since January 2006 against a new state database created under the federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA) -- a Herculean task that the board had decided to forgo with just six weeks to go until the election.
The GAB claims to be in full compliance with HAVA, stating that retro-active voter registration checks through the database are not mandated by federal law.
The database compares registration data with drivers license records. It just got up and running in Wisconsin a few weeks ago, but the program seems to still be working out the kinks -- one of the reasons the GAB is hesitant to hold the database accountable for validating registrations.
"In its deliberations, the Board was concerned about preliminary data that
showed more than a fifth of voters' data mismatched due to variations in names,
differing data entry standards, or typographical errors," a GAB press release responding to Van Hollen's suit said. "A check conducted of GAB members' data resulted in four of six Board members' information mis-matching."
The result, state Democrats say, would be widespread disenfranchisement and suppressed voter turnout. They claim Van Hollen's demands for database checking are motivated by his role in the McCain campaign, an allegation Van Hollen has denied.
"There was no discussion with anybody involved in leadership with the Republican Party (or the McCain campaign) about this lawsuit before it was brought," Van Hollen said last Thursday.
But yesterday, the Wisconsin Republican Party chairman came forward to say he had multiple conversations with Van Hollen's deputy attorney general, Ray Taffora, specifically discussing the handling of the lawsuit, the Wisconsin State Journal reported. The Friday before, another Department of Justice attorney in the lawsuit admitted meeting with Republican Party representatives in the week before the suit was filed.
The Dane County Court will hear motions for the case tomorrow, including a motion to disqualify Van Hollen. The attorney for the GAB argues that because Van Hollen represents the state, and the GAB is a state entity, Van Hollen cannot sue a party he represents. Both the Democratic and Republican parties of Wisconsin have filed motions to intervene in the lawsuit.

[LUVMBDiesels]

Like I said, I will try to get the scoop from my brother, but this conspiracy does not, on the surface, seem to be valid. Barring the things that went on in the past, to have the CAB deliberately mark people's records as "ID REQUIRED" just to prevent legitimate voters from voting seems far-fetched. Also the challenge does not come at the voting booth, but from the elections committees themselves. It is not like there is a fat cigar smoking capitalist sneering at a poor downtrodden mother carrying her waif on her hip as she shuffles toward her only hope for change, who tells her "Where are your papers?" then has her carted off to a camp...
According to this document, the only reasons there would be a provisional ballot is if you did not or could not submit proof when you registered. In NY you cannot even register without that proof, so Wi seems to be more progressive in that respect.

[RichC]

More new information

Americans for Prosperity, GOP Implicated in Wisconsin Vote-Caging Plot

by: Colorado Pols

Mon Sep 20, 2010 at 13:11:42 PM MDT


The story just now coming out from Madison, Wisconsin, involving that state's Republican Party, conservative activist group Americans for Prosperity, and local Tea Party groups, isn't alleged to involve their counterparts in Colorado. That we know of, anyway--from the release we got: Colorado Pols :: Americans for Prosperity, GOP Implicated in Wisconsin Vote-Caging Plot

A coordinated plot by the Republican Party of Wisconsin, Americans for Prosperity-Wisconsin and organizations in the so-called Tea Party movement targeting minority voters and college students in a possibly illegal "voter caging" effort for voter suppression has been uncovered in evidence obtained by One Wisconsin Now, a statewide advocacy organization in Madison, Wisconsin. "Based on what we have heard, the Republican Party of Wisconsin, the Americans for Prosperity-Wisconsin and leading Tea Party organizations are in collusion in an effort to suppress the ability of minorities and university students in Wisconsin to exercise their right to vote this November," said Scot Ross, One Wisconsin Now Executive Director. "We will be providing all of the evidence we have received on this wrongdoing to federal and state authorities so that they can investigate to ensure justice and democracy prevail."
THE PLOT
According to the statements made on the recordings, Dake lays out the plans, detailing contact between himself and Reince Preibus, the Republican Party of Wisconsin Chair and Mark Block, state director of Americans for Prosperity-Wisconsin:
The Republican Party of Wisconsin will use its "Voter Vault" state-wide voter file to compile a list of minority and student voters in targeted Wisconsin communities.
Americans for Prosperity will use this list to send mail to these voters indicating the voter must call and confirm their registration information, and telling them if they do not call the number provided they could be removed from the voter lists.
The Tea Party organizations will recruit and place individuals as official poll workers in selected municipalities in order to be able to make the challenges as official poll workers.
On Election Day, these organizations will then "make use" of any postcards that are returned as undeliverable to challenge voters at the polls, utilizing law enforcement, as well as attorneys trained and provided by the RPW, to support their challenges...
"Work with the media on this and district attorneys. Try to get them involved early and fired up about this and say look, 'We know you're shorthanded, we're hands, we're boots on the ground. We will help you, just bring the weight of the law behind us.'" [Pols emphasis]
"[Y]ou run into the racial thing. You have people screaming, 'Oh, you're denying the minorities the right to vote.' No., we're denying their right to vote multiple times." [Tim Dake, GrandSons of Liberty]

For more on the controversial--and depending on circumstance, illegal--practice of "vote-caging," read this primer from NYU's law school. And obviously, this will be a story to watch closely.
UPDATE: a supporting set of documents linked to in the release.