After investigating complaints of the Racine County District Attorney announced there is no evidence of any crimes committed. A statement reads that "Some of the information that was provided was anecdotal, as opposed to firsthand eyewitness accounts. Much of what was reported as fraud was more appropriately categorized as rule violations that are under the jurisdiction of the Government Accountability Board."
This echoes comments recently made by the GAB regarding allegations of voter fraud in the election between . GAB Executive Director Kevin Kennedy stated that evidence supporting allegations of tampering with ballet bags does not exist. The board said allegations of voter fraud are unsubstantiated.
Regardless of what politicians and party officials claim, voter fraud is not a problem in Wisconsin. It is not a problem nationwide either. Numerous studies have concluded that the rate of voter fraud in American elections is just about zero.
The New York Times released an investigation in 2007 noting that only 86 people across the nation had been convicted of voter fraud in the previous five years. The majority were honest mistakes on registration forms or a genuine misunderstanding of eligibility rules. But no real evidence of organized efforts to tamper with federal elections.
A group that has studied the issue for many years, The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University, released a report stating that “by any measure, voter fraud is extraordinarily rare." Examining Missouri elections in 2000, they found that out of more than two million votes cast, the verified fraud rate was 0.0003 percent.
Another study investigated allegations of 300,000 fraudulent votes cast during the 2004 election cycle. The conclusion? Only 185 votes were even potentially fraudulent.
The most common cases of voter fraud involve absentee ballots of voter registration fraud. Photo ID laws will not stop those from happening. If people are worried about someone impersonating someone else at the polling place, there’s absolutely no evidence of that happening on a large scale.
Back to Wisconsin
Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus claimed that widespread voter fraud in Wisconsin means that Republican candidates "need to do a point or two better" to win a statewide election. Politifact Wisconsin recently labeled that claim false. GAB’s Kennedy said that dating back to 2000, the board found no more than 20 instances of voter fraud in any statewide election.
So if voter fraud is not a problem in Wisconsin or anywhere else, why does the GOP work so hard to pass Why do they insist that voter fraud is a serious problem when there’s hardly any evidence to support those claims? Why do they diligently look for solutions to a problem that does not exist?
The people most likely to not have a photo ID? Minorities, students, and the elderly. For example, various studies have shown that 25 percent of minority voters don’t have a photo ID compared to 8 percent of white voters. Traditionally, those are groups who tend to vote for Democrats.
This is not an argument against photo ID laws. But the GOP is using heated rhetoric and scare tactics in an attempt to convince people of a problem that is not real.
Widespread voter fraud is a fairy tale.
I'm referring, of course, to your demonstrated history of suggesting there is no problem that can't be solved with a tax increase and corresponding government program. Your last few Patch articles are exhibit "A"
Back when we were in the primary grades, we learned talk like that was that of a poor loser. Keith, get some basic dignity. The Republicans lost in Racine, and therefore lost the Senate, and it was not due to cheating. You lost man, grow up.
How do do you reconcile liberal / leftist / Democratic pundits encouraging voter fraud? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OB3j9fpTKkk Didn't Ed Schultz visit Racine just before this the recall election? And then you wonder why everyone is up in arms - seriously?!?! Maybe you should get your own people in order first before trying to lecture the other side of the aisle - just a thought!
BTW - why the hate for DMV? You are helpless. It is amazingly simple, painless and easy to get an ID or drivers license at a DMV. The DMV is remarkably efficient, lines are short and fees appropriate and fair.
No one tells me what to write, I say what's on my mind. If you don't like it.....tough. DEAL WITH IT.
All I'm saying is people are learning how it's done......and are determined to be more able to prove it in the future. Being a good loser is one thing, having something stolen from you is another. When you get right down to it, the win for Democrats is symbolic at best. The senate goes back to session in January, after the Republicans pickup 2-3 seats in November. And take back the majority. But in the meantime I will preserve my dignity by not being a sucker to fraud, corruption and dishonesty.
http://www.prwatch.org/news/2012/07/11649/second-judge-finds-wis-voter-id-law-unconstitutional Second Judge Finds WI's Voter ID Law Unconstitutional by Brendan Fischer — July 18, 2012 - 8:11am Topics: Democracy Projects: ALEC Exposed A Wisconsin judge has found that the state's American Legislative Exchange Council-inspired voter ID restriction imposes an unconstitutional burden on the right to vote, writing that the law "tells more than 300,000 Wisconsin voters who do not now have an acceptable form of photo identification that they cannot vote unless they first obtain a photo ID card." "That is a lot of people, and most of them are already registered voters," wrote Dane County Judge David Flanagan, making permanent the injunction he issued against the law in March. .................... Earlier this year, Dane County District Judge Richard Niess issued a separate opinion in a case filed by the League of Women Voters invalidating the state's ALEC-inspired voter ID law. Although Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen is appealing Niess' ruling and will likely appeal Judge Flanagan's decision, the new voter ID requirements are not expected to be in place for the November 2012 elections. Supporters of the law would need to get both orders lifted for voter ID to be reinstated, and the Wisconsin Supreme Court has declined to take up the cases prematurely...............
Where do they pull this 300K number from? Was it from the same 1 million signatures count from the recalls?
Via @TPJustice: Obama Campaign Sues Ohio Officials, Calls New Limits On Early Voting Unconst... http://bit.ly/Nz9t9t | #p2 #law #justice
Try getting to a DMV without taking off work, and without a car. The Repubs got so extreme in getting a voter ID, they blew it Constitutionally. Not a lot of savvy there in crafting a bill. They were full of more than Lucky Charms.
That's the biggest crock I've heard all year!
THE TEN PLANKS OF THE COMMUNIST MANIFESTO. (Walk these planks at your own risk.) “These measures will of course be different in different countries. Nevertheless in the most advanced countries, the following will be pretty generally applicable. 1. Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes. 2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax. 3. Abolition of all right of inheritance. 4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels. 5. Centralisation of credit in the hands of the State, by means of a national bank with State capital and an exclusive monopoly. 6. Centralisation of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the State. 7. Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the State; the bringing into cultivation of waste-lands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan. 8. Equal liability of all to labour. Establishment of industrial armies, especially for agriculture. 9. Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries; gradual abolition of the distinction between town and country, by a more equable distribution of the population over the country. 10. Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children’s factory labour in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production” (11)
"Given the sacred, fundamental interest at issue, it is clear that Act 23, while perhaps addressing a legitimate concern, is not sufficiently narrow to avoid needless and significant impairment of the right to vote," Flanagan wrote.
Let's not forget his # 1 priority in 2009 was supposed to be jobs, but then he rammed thru Obamacare. He must be removed in November.