Did Your Dead Uncle Vote in 2008?
“We’re Watching… Wisconsin Elections”.
We all saw the stories about nationwide voter registration fraud during the 2008 election. Don’t be surprised to see them again this year.
Wisconsin is no exception. In fact, Wisconsin is more vulnerable in some areas than other states. No photo ID is required. The residency requirement is only 10 days. Our state-wide voter registration list has tens of thousands of unverified names on it. Your own vote can be stolen by someone else simply giving your name and address. Even dead people have voted…
In 2008, Barb Struck of Ozaukee County discovered that her deceased mother’s name was still on the polling list. In an attempt to have her mother’s name removed, Barb discovered that her mother voted in an election after the date of her death! Her mother was a very determined person, but this surprise was beyond the pale. So Barb contacted the Government Accountability Board to prevent it from happening again.
Another Wisconsin resident went to vote and was told that he had already voted. Someone else had arrived at that polling place before him, used his name and address and stole his vote.
Your help is crucial this year. The best ways to keep our elections clean are to clean up the voter rolls and shine light on the process by participating in watching the polls.
What can you do at home?
The Government Accountability Board (GAB) has an online tool called Voter Public Access (VPA). The tool is easy to use, but there are a couple of things worth pointing out.
To use the tool, go to the GAB website at https://vpa.wi.gov and click on the link that reads “Look up your voter registration and polling place location”. Then enter your last name, first name and birth date in the format m/d/yyyy. In some cases, the GAB does not have the birth date of the person on file. So if you cannot find your entry, try again using the special value 1/1/1900 instead of your actual birth date.
Your name and address should display. If your address is incorrect (for instance, if you have moved since the last time you voted), contact the GAB to have it corrected.
Click on your name. On the next screen, the third line shows your registration status. It should be “Active” unless you haven’t voted in more than four years. There is also a link to see your voting history. Click on it and see if it matches the primaries/elections that you know you voted in.
And here’s a nice feature of the tool. If you know the birth dates of your deceased relatives, you can look them up also. The status of a deceased person should show “Cancelled” (instead of “Inactive” or “Active”). Click on the voting history link and make sure than none of the dates are after the date that the person died.
Once you are familiar with the tool, contact any of your cousins who are researching their family tree and teach them to use the tool to be sure any deceased relatives cannot vote this year.
In some cases, one couple found that they were both registered in two places… their current address and also their Milwaukee county address where they had not lived for 13 years. Another person in Menomonee Falls, found that he was registered under two different spellings of his last name, one under a former address and one under his current address.
You can also contact your municipal clerk or the GAB and ask them for all the names registered at your address. If there are incorrect names, ask them to have them removed.
If a deceased person voted after their date of death, a felony has been committed. We encourage you to file a criminal complaint at your local district attorney’s office. Make sure your district attorney copies you, as well as Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen.
Recently, there were still 70,000 names on the statewide voter registration list that have failed required identification checks. Names that no longer should be on the list but are still “active” could be used fraudulently. But the GAB is hesitant inactivate these names because it might “disenfranchise” someone. Anyone in this situation can simply re-register if their names were inactivated in error.
There is a GAB meeting in Madison on Monday morning, August 30 in which we have one opportunity to urge the GAB to inactivate these questionable entries. Contact:
www.protectyourvoteproject@gmail.co m if you would like details.
What can you do at the polls?
There is an effort underway by a group called “We’re Watching… Wisconsin Elections”. They are an unaffiliated group of concerned citizens who follow issues affecting Wisconsin elections. See their website at:
http://www.werewatchingwisconsinelec tions.org/ for more detailed information.
They need election observers (poll watchers) statewide. Please volunteer. This would require your time on two or three dates… first, to attend a training session and second, to take part at a polling place during the September primary and/or Election day in November.
Any Wisconsin resident can be an election observer. You can observe in any municipality (unlike poll workers who must live in the municipality). Consider talking to a neighbor, friend or relative and do it together.
You can sign up at http://tiny.cc/13a70 to be an election observer. Even without signing up, you can attend a training session to see if you would like to participate. Two sessions are currently scheduled in southeastern Wisconsin.
- Wednesday, September 8 at 7:00 p.m. – Waukesha GOP Headquarters (Pearl St. & Hwy. 59)
- Thursday, September 9 at 6:30 p.m. – West Allis Public Library (75th and National Ave.)
If you live in other parts of the state, you can contact
www.protectyourvoteproject@gmail.co m to set up training in your area.
“We’re Watching…” also has tools online to make you an effective observer. There is an Election Observer Manual and companion PowerPoint presentation at www.werewatchingwisconsinelections.org.
At the polls on election day, you can have a copy of the manual with you and will also have a phone number you can call if a questionable situation arises.
“We’re Watching…” has contacted both the Republican and Democrat parties to help with this effort. The GOP has an infrastructure and an attorney in place to help facilitate this effort. However, the Wisconsin Democrat Party has not taken an active role nor provided an online link for training or sign-up.
But it’s really up to everyday citizens like you and me. This year, the election process needs you like never before.