Jim Sullivan, Carla Ledesma, and Voter Fraud

Two Democratic Wisconsin state senate candidates have had to address allegations that they committed voter fraud.

Dem Donovan Riley, challenger for Jeff Plale's 7th district seat, withdrew from the race when an inconvenient truth surfaced that he voted in Oconomowoc and in Chicago on the same day in the November 2000 election.

Dem Jim Sullivan, state senate candidate for the 5th district, has also been forced to explain his voting behavior. Documents show that he double voted in the 1996 election.

The 1996 matter was determined to be a mistake stemming from the fact that Jim Sullivan and his father share the same name.

Sullivan's supporters blamed the elderly poll workers that are prone to screw up the records. (There goes the elderly poll worker Sullivan endorsement.)

That case was closed; but there was another set of documents listing Jim Sullivan as a double voter, this time in 1998.

When Sullivan learned that the records revealed more problems, what did he do?

Sullivan had Wauwatosa City Clerk Carla Ledesma alter the voting record to read that he had not voted in the September 1998 election.

According to Wisconsin state law, election officials may not "willfully alter or destroy a poll or registration list."

Ledesma admits that she did, in fact, alter the voting record because Sullivan told her it was wrong.

A few things are wrong here--

First, it's unlikely that poll workers habitually made mistakes in documenting Sullivan's voting record. The odds are against such mistakes happening again and again. Is every worker that Sullivan encountered at the polls an idiot?

Second, Sullivan should not have requested that the official record be changed. He has no authority to do so.

Third, Ledesma should not have taken it upon herself to alter the record, simply because Sullivan asked her to do it.

Is it possible that Sullivan just happens to be incredibly unlucky when it comes to the accurate documentation of his voting records? Is it possible that he was the victim of repeated errors by poll workers?

It could be the case, but that certainly reflects poorly on Wisconsin poll workers' ability to ensure a fair election.

Moreover, Sullivan sought out the City Clerk to change a record from 1998. He should know that such a request was wrong.

Nevertheless, he asked Ledesma to violate the law and she did.

Sullivan is a lawyer. He had to know what he was doing was terribly inappropriate. He can't claim ignorance, not without looking like a complete doofus.

For her part, Ledemsa had to know that what she agreed to do was wrong. It's her job to know that she can't tamper with the records.

There is no question that it looks like Sullivan was trying to clean up an eight-year-old problem. He probably felt he had successfully dodged a bullet with the 1996 matter and didn't want to be dogged by a new but similar issue.

Having records altered so he wouldn't have to answer for yet another instance of alleged double voting is dirty.

It's possible that Sullivan is innocent of voter fraud and was the victim of sloppiness on the part of incompetent poll workers; but he is not innocent when it comes to engaging in tampering with voting records.

Ledemsa is not fit to serve as City Clerk if all it takes for her to make alterations in official election documents is for someone to put in a request.

And if Ledemsa gave Sullivan preferential treatment because of his status as a candidate, then that's another strike against her.

Both Sullivan and Ledesma have some major explaining to do.

Personally, I don't have faith that Wisconsin's elections are sound.

That fact that Jim Doyle and his Dem minions continue to fight efforts to assure the integrity of Wisconsin elections is testament to the fact that Dems don't want to put up any obstacles to voter fraud.

Why?

It's a technique that they don't want to abandon because it works for them.