Election Fraud Wisconsin: 5 Charged

Five people in Wisconsin have FINALLY been charged with election fraud in the 2008 general election.

Why did it take so long?

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Milwaukee police officers sat on their hands for months last year instead of investigating possible voter fraud cases from the 2008 general election.

It's an incredible claim, but it's coming from a credible source:

Assistant District Attorney Bruce Landgraf, the Milwaukee County prosecutor responsible for overseeing campaign and election issues.

"Honestly, the Milwaukee Police Department largely ignored your double voter (and other) referrals received in January 2009 for the first six months of 2009," Landgraf wrote in an e-mail to a city elections official on Jan. 26.

Speaking with unguarded candor, the veteran prosecutor said in his note that MPD's tardy response had a major impact. The cases involve voters who may have cast more than one ballot, felons who may have voted illegally and other cases of possible election fraud.

"Sadly, several probable cases of genuine voter fraud were harmed by that delay," Landgraf wrote in an e-mail obtained through an open records request.

The assistant district attorney was even more pessimistic about the investigation of more than 500 individuals who registered to vote on election day but whose addresses could not be confirmed later by postcard.

"I do not expect them to ever get to the Address Cards," he said of the Milwaukee cops.

...A spokeswoman for Police Chief Edward Flynn, however, defended the agency's response to these matters.

"We have investigated every case that has been forwarded to us" by the district attorney, said public information officer Anne E. Schwartz in a written statement. "This is not a static operation - the work to investigate allegations of voter fraud is an ongoing process and continues to result in charges issued by the DA."

Schwartz went on to say that [District Attorney John] Chisholm has been quick to ring up the police chief if the prosecutor has a gripe about an issue.

"At no time did he evidence any concern about how these investigations were being conducted," Schwartz said.

The city official to whom Landgraf was writing - deputy election director Neil Albrecht - also referred questions to his supervisor, city election boss Susan Edman.

A former MPD captain, Edman tried to smooth things over.

"Our expectation is that all cases referred are investigated," she said.

Her office has forwarded the names and records of 569 voters who registered at the polls but whose home addresses couldn't be confirmed later via postcard. The focus now, Edman said, is on those voters for whom it is not clear what proof was offered on Election Day to show they lived in the city.

In addition, since the 2008 general election, her agency has referred some 100 cases of possible voter fraud to Landgraf's office, which then kicks many of those to Milwaukee officers for investigation.

Edman said 80 of those cases have now been dismissed because it was clear that a poll worker had erred.

"Another 10 were double votes due to actual voter incompetence," Edman said. "Several cases are still under investigation."

Asked if she agreed with Landgraf's assessment that legitimate voter-fraud cases may have been hurt by lethargic MPD investigations, Edman provided a diplomatic response.

"Like most investigations, the sooner an investigation is initiated, the greater the chances are of bringing resolution to a case," she said. "Until these referrals are reviewed, we really don't know if there are any cases of voter fraud."

...But why did Landgraf think there was such reluctance to take on these cases?

In the e-mail, he said Milwaukee officers may have become skittish after seeing how the police chief dealt with two cops who were part of the unit responsible for issuing a controversial report on voting problems in the 2004 election.

Flynn was outraged that he got their report just hours before its release in February 2008 and that the authors went beyond their role as cops by offering partisan policy proposals. The unsigned report was dismissed by Democrats but hailed by Republicans.

"I speculate that (Mike) Sandvick's banishment and the transfer of Mike Perez (ultimately to uniform duty) had a chilling effect on the 'rank and file' motivation to investigate these matters," the assistant district attorney wrote.

Well.

This is disturbing. Milwaukee police officers fear investigating election fraud?

Not good.

Is Mayor Tom Barrett around?

In February 2008, in response to a 67-page Milwaukee police report, "Report of the Investigation into the November 2, 2004 General Election in the City of Milwaukee," Barrett declared, "We will continue to make the necessary improvements so that citizens of Milwaukee can be confident in their elections."

Obviously, doing that hasn't been high on his to-do list.

Here it is 2010. Are citizens in Milwaukee confident in their elections?

They shouldn't be.

Where does Barrett stand on this slow motion investigation into irregularities in the 2008 general election? What's the deal? Any comment?

Is Barrett hoping to benefit from election fraud in 2010? Is that why he's so quiet on this stuff? I don't get it.

There was some good news for the citizens of Milwaukee and Wisconsin today, the citizens who believe the state should conduct fair elections.

Five Wisconsin residents have been charged with criminal counts of voter fraud in the November 2008 general election, state Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen announced today.

Two of those charged - Maria Miles, 36, of Milwaukee, and Kevin Clancy, 26, of Racine - worked for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), the embattled community organizing group.

"The complaint alleges that Miles and Clancy submitted multiple voter registration applications for the same individuals, and also were part of a scheme in which they and other (special registration deputies) registered each other to vote multiple times in order to meet voter registration quotas imposed by ACORN," the Van Hollen release says.

Both were charged with one felony count.

Attempts to reach ACORN today were unsuccessful.

Also charged was a couple - Herbert, 60, and Suzanne Gunka, 54, both of Milwaukee - for allegedly double-voting in November 2008, once absentee and once at the polls.

Michael Henderson, 40, was hit with two felony charges of being a felon who cast a ballot even though he was still on probation. The Milwaukee man was convicted in 2005 in Rock County with two felonies for bail jumping and one disorderly conduct misdemeanor.

He was sentenced to five years' probation.

Each felony count for voter fraud carries a maximum penalty of 3 1/2 years behind bars and a $10,000 fine. All five individuals are scheduled to appear in court on April 20.

The charges were brought as part of the Milwaukee Election Fraud Task Force.

ACORN = Corruption and disenfranchisement.

In 2010, we will be electing a new governor. In another statewide race, Russ Feingold will be running to keep his U.S. Senate seat.

In races such as these, fraud in any area of the state impacts everyone in the state.

Everyone in Wisconsin should be concerned.

It is unacceptable for authorities, whether it's Barrett or other elected Dem officials or Police Chief Flynn, to fail to take election fraud seriously, brush the cases off as isolated events, or brush them off altogether.

What is this? Chicago?

It is a disgrace.
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