About Time

by folkbum

Michael McGee, Jr., guilty on all counts.

This is what "vote fraud" looks like

I've written about this kind of thing before--that vote fraud does indeed exisit, and it usually takes the form of something like vote-buying (.pdf):

There is virtually universal agreement that absentee ballot fraud is the biggest problem, with vote buying and registration fraud coming in after that. The vote buying often comes in the form of payment for absentee ballots, although not always. Some absentee ballot fraud is part of an organized effort; some is by individuals, who sometimes are not even aware what they are doing is illegal. [. . .]

There is widespread but not unanimous consent that that is little polling place fraud, or at least much less than is claimed, including voter impersonation, "dead" voters, noncitizen voting and felon voting. [. . .] Jason Torchinsky from the American Center for Voting Rights is the only interviewee who believes that polling place fraud is widespread and among the most significant problems in the system.

(You should read up on that exception.)

Today we learn that vote buying may well explain why Alderman McGee won his recall election so easily:

A secret John Doe investigation into irregularities during the recall campaign of Ald. Michael McGee yielded its first criminal charges Thursday, against a McGee campaign worker accused of paying people to vote.

The criminal complaint says that Garrett L. Huff, believed to be McGee's uncle, was "acting in concert" with McGee when he paid people $5 to vote absentee in the recall. [. . .] McGee campaign fliers promised free food and drink to people who showed up at certain locations with an "I Voted" sticker, the complaint says. Instead of food, the voters got cash, the complaint says.

Three undercover police officers were paid to vote as part of the scheme, the complaint says, and a fourth, who claimed he couldn't vote because he was on parole, was given $5 for bringing one of the others. [. . .] If convicted, Huff faces a maximum penalty of 3 1/2 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

This is exactly the kind of work that needs to be done to identify and punish people who are indeed organizing and committing vote fraud, and the DA should be commended for taking swift action here.

However, this case is also a reminder of why Republicans' efforts at reforming voting laws--limited almost exclusively to trying to pass a photo ID requirement--will do nothing to curb the real problems. None of the people who voted under the influence of Huff and McGee pretended to be anyone other than who they were, or to live somewhere they didn't, or to be eligible to vote when they were not. It is entirely probable that had a photo ID been in place, overall turnout would have been lower, with legitimate legal voters unable to vote, and these illegally bought votes would have carried even greater weight.

Most of all, though, we have Huff facing a maximum penalty of 3 1/2 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Granted, that sort of thing is certainly enough to dissuade me from going against my ethics and trying something like this. However, it seems an insignificant penalty for tinkering with the very heart of our democratic system, the electoral process.

If Republicans were truly interested in stopping fraud--as opposed to stopping minority voters--they could take this opportunity to strengthen the laws against this kind of fraud, the kind of fraud that we know is real and that must be stopped.

Demands

I wrote most of a draft of this post this morning, but, screw it. Just go read this. It's better than I was doing.

Vote in One Week

by folkbum

Some election-related bits:

• In Milwaukee, city-wide school board candidate James Koneazny has dropped out due to illness. His name will still be on the ballot, but don't vote for him.
  
  
• In other school board news, Terry Falk is organizing "Cell Phone Parties" at his house for this weekend to support his run down here in District 8. If you can help out by bringing your cell phone and making calls to voters before the February 20th primary, call Terry (744-4598) or email (tfalk@wi.rr.com) in advance if you can make it for a couple hours Saturday, Sunday, or Monday. If you don't have a phone, you can use Terry's land line or work on a few other things there.
  
  
• Also for some Milwaukee voters, it looks like the Michael McGee recall is back on, but on a different timeline, with an initial vote coinciding with the general election on April 3. A lot of very smart people that I know and trust are supporting Una Van Duvall for that position; I don't know enough to offer a full endorsement, but I just wanted to point out that she's garnered some impressive backers.
  
  
• Annette Ziegler is first on TV with an ad in the state Supreme Court race. Though the spot is not quite as "tough on crime!" as her previous radio ad, I do have to wonder if her campain isn't taking a tip from JB Van Hollen, and running on the crime issue even though prosecutorial experience is not necessarily helpful on the high court. But I guess she, like Van Hollen, knows what her voters want to hear, even if it's not relevant to the job. I'm still voting for Linda Clifford.

Any votes in your neck of the woods you want to talk about?

Thursday Thumbs

Thursday Thumbs is a new regular feature wherein I express my approval or disapproval concerning news of the week, happenings, or other trivia through a cute graphic, rather than with my usual long, hard-to-follow, and humorless rants and rambling. Today's edition is the inaugural one. Be nice.

Thumbs up to going back to grad school. Scott's time will get tighter, but it will be well worth it in the end.

Thumbs down to AirTran. Midwest Airlines has something special about it, and it isn't AirTran's dirty airplanes and cramped seats.

Thumbs up to Mel Gibson. Yes, he's crazy, but at least he's able to own his insanity.

Thumbs down to Michael McGee, Jr. He can't seem to own his insanity.

Thumbs up to the McIlheran Watch growing ever wider. I'm telling you, he's a tricky one.

Thumbs down to everyone who over-hyped the "spying on Di" story.

Thumbs up to a swift recovery for Tim Johnson. Our thoughts are with him and his family.

Thumbs down to everyone waiting for Johnson to die. Really, FOX, that's low even for you.

Thumbs up to Dean, for crossing enemy lines.

Thumbs down to No Child Left Behind, which seems to be falling apart all over.

Thumbs down to Peter Pochowski, who said, "he estimates 25% to 30% of local teens are carrying" cell phones. That's about 70% to 75% off from reality.