Democratic Party of Wisconsin, you have a problem.
Wisconsin Dems have shown that they aren't too interested in putting in measures to ensure that Wisconsin elections are clean.
Now, the actual voting habits of some Wisconsin state senate candidates are being questioned.
By voting habits I mean that nasty habit of VOTING TWICE IN THE SAME ELECTION. That's serious stuff. It's a felony.
Oh, Democrats, this is not good, not good at all.
I don't know how the DPW will spin this. It has nothing to do with stem cell research.
This is about documented voter fraud. Yes, Dems, you have a problem.
First, Jim Sullivan--
Allegations have surfaced that Jim Sullivan, state senate candidate for the 5th district, voted twice in the 1996 election.
Owen at Boots and Sabers examines the matter.
Sean at The American Mind has more.
On Tuesday, Sullivan called in to Mark Belling's radio talk show to dispute the allegations.
Sullivan was angry. At Belling's request, Sullivan said he would be willing to take a lie detector test. He added that he would "swear on a stack of Bibles."
Belling decided that it was likely that Sullivan was telling the truth and a poll worker made a mistake. Belling based his conclusion on his personal belief that lying people won't agree to take a lie detector test.
That's Belling's opinion.
Listen here.
Second, Donovan Riley--
Riley, Riley, Riley.
This one is going to stick.
From The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Regional News Briefs:
State Senate candidate Donovan Riley could face criminal charges if allegations that he voted twice in the November 2000 election are substantiated, said Paul Bucher, Waukesha County district attorney.
A special interest group claims Riley voted twice in the 2000 general election, once in Chicago and then again in Oconomowoc on the same day.
Riley told Journal Sentinel columnists Cary Spivak and Dan Bice that he may have made a mistake and voted twice.
Bucher said the state Elections Board deferred the case to his office and that he would begin reviewing the matter today.Bucher said he would be contacting Riley and elections clerks in both states today to determine if charges are warranted.
Apparently, the Journal Sentinel doesn't consider this to be banner headline stuff, so it's tucked away amid the other Regional News Briefs material, like "Entire fish population in lake dies in 1 day."
If a Republican candidate's felonious voting habits were in question, it would be all over the Journal Sentinel. I'm sure they'd find a way to work it into the sports page and the classifieds.
Here are excerpts of the original story by Cary Spivak and Dan Bice.
State Senate candidate Donovan Riley is a big believer in democracy.
So much so that he rarely misses a chance to vote.
And, in one case, Riley may have gone so far as to vote twice in the same election.
Yep, that's right - twice in the same election.
That is the allegation laid out by a special-interest group in a complaint filed with the state Elections Board on Friday.
The complaint by All Children Matter, a proponent of private school vouchers, cites documents that suggest that Riley, a 69-year-old former CEO of the University of Illinois Hospital, voted twice in the 2000 general election, once in Chicago and then again in Oconomowoc. A well-heeled liberal Democrat, Riley is running a vigorous primary campaign against state Sen. Jeff Plale, a conservative Dem from South Milwaukee.
Late Friday, Riley offered this stunning written response to the charges:
"My best recollection is that I was splitting my time between Wisconsin and Illinois, and it's possible I made a mistake. If the Elections Board decides to look into this matter, I will gladly assist."
Do you believe that?
What kind of an excuse is that?
OK, so Riley was splitting his time between Wisconsin and Illinois. Many people live out of two homes; but no one is in one state and votes, and then later in the day votes in another state by mistake.
Riley's explanation makes Patrick Kennedy's Ambien excuse seem reasonable.
No one makes the "mistake" of voting twice in one day in different states. It doesn't happen.
I take the fact that Riley says "it's possible I made a mistake" to mean that he knows very well that he engaged in felonious behavior and voted twice.
If someone were to allege that I had voted twice in the same election, I would say, "That is impossible" There would be no question in my mind. I would do whatever it took to clear up the misunderstanding and prove that I didn't do it.
Riley is running to be a state senator! He says he's not sure whether he voted twice in the same day. That's ludicrous.
The Wisconsin Dems have some serious explaining to do.
They have to dump Riley.
...In his statement, Riley went on to attack the group that filed the complaint, accusing it of diverting attention from Plale's Senate record and the substantive issues of the campaign.
This isn't a diversionary tactic. Committing a felony, voter fraud, deserves attention.
That is not a minor deal.
Had Riley been caught and convicted of a felony, he would have lost his voting privileges. He would/should have been stripped of his right to vote. His alleged November 7, 2000 polling place crawl would have been the end of Riley's voter overindulgence.
..."How can you claim it's a mistake when you registered the day before the election, then voted in Wisconsin and go and vote in Illinois on the same day?" asked Michael Crooks, a Madison attorney. Crooks noted that the statute of limitations on voter fraud is six years.
It's impossible to do. Absolutely no one of sound mind could make the mistake of voting in two states on the same day.
In less than three months, the statute of limitations will run out.
That doesn't matter. What matters is the truth is out. The damage has been done to Riley's campaign. Being exposed as having voted twice and failing to come up with a feasible explanation for it is an absolute disaster for Riley.
It's Christmas morning for Jeff Plale.
...Records provided us by Tom Leach, spokesman for the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners, indicate that Donovan W. Riley voted in the city nine times from Nov. 8, 1988, to Nov. 7, 2000. The registration information says Riley, who is listed as being born in 1937, lived initially on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago before moving to Harbor Drive in the city. Riley is recorded as having voted in person in all of these elections.
Of course, Chicago has built a reputation for its sloppy and sometimes creative election record-keeping. This is the place, after all, where people vote early and vote often.
But by the 2000 election, Leach said, the city was scanning ballots to verify that someone voted, instead of doing it by hand.
"There's always a chance (of a mistake)," Leach said. "But we're right 99 percent of the time."
Riley has to drop out of the race.
There is no way that he can continue. The Dems cannot support him.
...Peggy Chapman, the Oconomowoc clerk-treasurer, said Friday that Riley registered to vote in Oconomowoc on Nov. 6, 2000. The complaint contains a copy of his registration form bearing his birth date and Social Security number. Chapman said her records show Riley voted there on Nov. 7, 2000, and in six other elections, most recently on April 5, 2005.
In addition, the complaint contends that Riley kept his voter registration active in Chicago by returning a canvassing postcard on Sept. 15, 2004, confirming that he was still a resident. The previous day, the complaint notes, Riley voted in an election in Oconomowoc.
Done like a true Chicagoan.
Obviously, Riley likes to keep his options open.
It's one thing for Democrats to block measures to prevent voter fraud in Wisconsin; it's quite another for Dem candidates to have personally engaged in voter fraud.
This takes the Dems' lack of interest in assuring the integrity of Wisconsin's elections to a new level.
If the Dems fail to act on this, they will look as bad as Riley, if not worse.
The election 2004 tire-slashing suppress the Republican vote tactics of former Acting Mayor Marvin Pratt's son Michael and U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore's son Sowande Omokunde are still very fresh in people's minds.
When it comes to elections, the Dems look dirty.
A question:
If the Democratic Party of Wisconsin doesn't force Riley to drop out and by some miracle he manages to beat Jeff Plale to represent the 7th district in the State Senate, do you think Riley will support measures to clean up Wisconsin's elections?
For example, something tells me that he'd vote against a voter I.D. bill. If he could, I bet he'd vote twice.
________________________________
Read Riley's press release "regarding allegations about his voting history" here.
"After months of waiting for Jeff Plale to explain his extreme record in the State Legislature, I am disappointed that his special interest contributors have chosen to attack me personally instead of conducting a serious discussion of issues that matter to the people of the 7th District.
..."The attempt by Sen. Plale's special interest contributors to distract voters from important issues does a disservice to the democratic process. I remain committed to the issues and to a debate of substance in this campaign."
Speaking of diversionary maneuvers...
Riley is trying to assume victim status.
The only victims here are Wisconsin voters. He soiled the election. By committing voter fraud (allegedly), he disenfranchised Wisconsinites.
Campaign issue one:
Have you ever committed voter fraud?
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