Wisconsin: Democratic, GOP officials post Facebook photos of their absentee ballots — a felony in Wisconsin | StarTribune.com

Wisconsin elections officials are reminding voters that posting photos of completed ballots on Facebook or Twitter is illegal — but high-ranking members of both political parties apparently missed the memo. Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Mike Tate and St. Croix County Republican Party Chairwoman Jesse Garza said Friday they’re removing their ballot photos after finding out the postings violated state law. The law bars voters from showing their completed ballots to anyone. The intent is to prevent people from selling their votes and then showing their ballots as proof they voted as requested.

Wisconsin: Recall Election: Political Money Talks | NYTimes.com

As Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin faces a well deserved recall votenext month after stripping public unions of their bargaining rights, voters are discovering the generosity of Diane Hendricks. Ms. Hendricks, the billionaire chairwoman of the nation’s largest roofing and siding wholesaler, wrote a check for $500,000 last month to help defend Governor Walker, a Republican, against his Democratic challenger, Tom Barrett, the mayor of Milwaukee. The eye-popping donation was made possible by a quirk in the state law for recall campaigns. And Ms. Hendricks has never been shy about what she wants. A newly released piece of documentary video shows her running into Governor Walker two weeks after he took office in 2011. In what was presumed to have been a private discussion, Ms. Hendricks asked, “Any chance we’ll ever get to be a completely red state and work on these unions and become a right to work” state?

Wisconsin: Hundreds wait in line to vote early in recall election | Wisconsin State Journal

On a day when mail carriers didn’t deliver and mourners packed cemeteries for solemn tributes to the dead, hundreds of others stood in long lines outside the Madison city clerk’s office, showing that in this hypercharged election season voting takes no holiday. “I’m amazed,” said voter Allan Wessel of Madison of the turnout, which hit 379 people in four hours and produced 45-minute waits. “We thought there might be a short little line.” The clerk’s office took the unusual step of opening for a half-day on Memorial Day, a federal holiday, to allow people to cast early ballots for the June 5 gubernatorial recall election, the first in state history. The line snaked around the corner to the City Hall entrance and, at times, got so long it turned again at the Parks Department office, creating a J-shaped line of voters who weren’t prepared for the wait.

Wisconsin: Stop the presses: Walker uncovers huge voter fraud | The Oshkosh Northwestern

The problem with the radioactive partisanship in Wisconsin is that otherwise intelligent folks who typically choose their words with care occasionally feel the need to launch rhetorical firebombs to stir up their respective political bases. This makes it virtually impossible for government leaders to come together to craft effective solutions to legitimate issues that require their attention. The latest example comes from Gov. Scott Walker, who as politicians go, is a straight talker, no doubt something he’s become more careful about these days since every syllable is scrutinized, inspected and combed for meaning. In an interview with The Weekly Standard, Walker said he was concerned about voter fraud in the coming June 5 recall election in the wake of the state’s controversial voter ID law being suspended by the courts. “I’ve always thought in this state, close elections, presidential elections, it means you probably have to win with at least 53 percent of the vote to account for fraud. One or two points, potentially,” he told the publication.

Wisconsin: Scott Walker: Voter Fraud is Worth “One or Two Points” in Recall Election | Slate

Wisconsin native Steve Hayes offers a long, empathetic take on Scott Walker’s attempt to survive a recall election. The highlight: An interview with Walker, who apologizes for nothing (why should he?) and tries to get inside the heads of the liberals who hate him. Why are they so adamant about reversing a voter ID law?

“I’ve always thought in this state, close elections, presidential elections, it means you probably have to win with at least 53 percent of the vote to account for fraud. One or two points, potentially.” That’s enough to change the outcome of the election. “Absolutely. I mean there’s no question why they went to court and fought [to undo] voter ID.”

There might be some question. The voter fraud issue was investigated in Wisconsin fairly recently, in the form of an Election Fraud Task Force and a deep dive into 2008’s vote results. The yearlong investigation charged 20 people — this in an election with around 3 million ballots. For fraud to equal “one or two points” in that election, you’d have needed 30,000-60,000 phony ballots. The proven fraud actually amounted to 0.0007 percent of all votes.

Wisconsin: Donations to Scott Walker Flagged as Potential Fraud | ProPublica

When MaryAnn Nellis tried to pay for groceries on April 14, her credit card was declined. Later, she said, she found out why: Her credit card company, Capital One, had flagged an earlier purchase as potentially fraudulent. The problem? A $5 donation to Friends of Scott Walker, the Wisconsin governor’s campaign committee, Nellis said. Nellis told a Capital One representative she had not made the donation to Walker, who is fighting an effort to recall him as governor in a closely watched, expensive election set for June 5. “Over my dead body,” said Nellis, a potter and retired teacher in upstate New York who describes herself as “adamantly angry and upset” at Republicans such as Walker. Nellis disputed the charge and she was issued a new card. Though the amount of money was small, ProPublica decided Nellis’ complaint was worth following up. There have been other reports recently about insecure campaign-donation websites and the potential for fraud. Earlier this month, The Washington Times reported that Restore Our Future, the super PAC supporting Republican Mitt Romney, was using a collection system that made online donors’ credit card informationaccessible to even amateur snoopers.

Wisconsin: Report: Voter fraud concerns unfounded as recall election day approaches | WTAQ

Concerns of voter fraud are popping up again, as we get closer to the June 5th recall elections for governor and five other state offices. But the Appleton Post-Crescent says the low numbers of fraud cases in the last two presidential elections don’t support those concerns. The paper said a bi-partisan Election Fraud Task Force only charged 20 people with election fraud in Wisconsin after the 2008 presidential contest. And that represents just seven-thousandths of one percent of all the votes cast. In the 2004 presidential contest, the Brennan Center for Justice found only 7 fraud cases in Milwaukee County – or two-thousandths of one percent of the statewide vote.

Wisconsin: Student voters face trouble in June recall election | GazetteXtra

You’re a college student who has come home for the summer. You’re planning to vote in the June 5 recall election using your parents’ home as your residence. You might be turned away. A change in the state’s voting law and the timing of this election means you might have to vote back in Platteville, Whitewater, Oshkosh or Superior, if you attended college in those cities and if you registered to vote there. “My fear is they’re going to get to the polls on Tuesday (June 5) and be told they can’t vote,” Rock County Clerk Lori Stottler said.

Wisconsin: Absentee voting begins for recall election | JSOnline

Absentee voters came to the polls in strong numbers Monday as the first day of early voting started ahead of Wisconsin’s June 5 recall. By 8 a.m., voters were already waiting for the Wausau city clerk’s office to open. In Madison, a line stretched out the door at lunchtime. In Brookfield, the city clerk’s office saw steady traffic throughout the day. “We’re extremely, extremely busy,” Wausau City Clerk Toni Rayala said. “We had much more than we expected, and much faster.” Clerks statewide reported much higher absentee turnout Monday than in the spring presidential primary as well as the May 8 recall primary. Most said the turnout for absentee voters appeared to be on par with that for a typical November general election.

Wisconsin: Timing of recall election not good for the student vote | madison.com

On a warm, sun-splashed evening during final exams week, senior Matt Hochhauser knocks on doors on UW-Madison’s fraternity row. His mission: To get students who are preoccupied with studying and summer plans to think about an election that is just weeks away. “It’s very difficult because we have such a short amount of time to get people to vote,” said the English and history major from Long Island, N.Y., who was canvassing Langdon Street for the Democratic Party on Monday night. The timing of Wisconsin’s historic gubernatorial recall election couldn’t be worse for college students. Many will leave campus for the summer after exams end this week or graduation this weekend. Experts say the June 5 election between Republican Gov. Scott Walker and Democratic challenger Tom Barrett could result in lower turnout for a population that already votes in small numbers. “The barriers are huge,” said Elizabeth Hollander, a senior fellow at Tufts University who studies student civic engagement. “Not to knock college students, but they have a lot of other things on their mind.” Making things more complicated for the transitory population are new voting rules that require voters to live in an election ward for at least 28 consecutive days. People should vote at the residence where they lived on May 8, according to the Government Accountability Board. Students can file an absentee ballot if they are registered at that location but away for the summer.

Wisconsin: Verify the Recall was overly aggressive in reviewing petitions, elections officials say | JSOnline

A tea party review of recall petitions did not use the proper standards for judging signatures, an attorney for the state’s election agency reported Tuesday. “The methodology they used just would not have worked for us and would have not been valid or legal under the law and administrative code that governs recall petitions,” attorney Mike Haas told the Government Accountability Board.  The agency in March found recalls were warranted against Gov. Scott Walker, Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch and four of their fellow Republicans in the state Senate. The elections are scheduled for June 5.  While the agency spent months reviewing more than 1 million signatures against the six officials, tea party groups banded together for a project they called Verify the Recall. They had volunteers type information from hand-written petitions into online databases and then used software to determine how many signatures were valid.

Wisconsin: Absentee ballot registration cards cause confusion | WISN

Just days before the historic recall primary, some absentee ballot registration cards are causing confusion. Election Commission office phones are ringing with voters concerned and confused over third-party mailers, which they said are leading some to think cities are actually campaigning for certain candidates, showing up in their mailbox. “We’re pleased that people are calling and asking if it’s a proper form to request an absentee ballot,” Milwaukee Election Commission Executive Director Susan Edman said.

Wisconsin: Voting machine concerns bubble up as Wisconsin recall elections near | Statehouse News

You might be forgiven for thinking John Washburn is paranoid. Plenty of people do, Washburn admits with some humor. … “Quite frankly, I’m not really concerned by (being called paranoid), because it’s highly correlated with how much people have checked my claims,” he said. Washburn’s fears — that Wisconsinites and, really, voters nationwide, are putting too much faith in a questionable voting system — may be unfounded. But he’s not the only one worried. As part of a University of California-Santa Barbara study in 2007 that reviewed electronic voting machines similar to some used in Wisconsin, researchers designed software they said “developed a virus-like software that can spread across the voting system, modifying the firmware of the voting machines. The modified firmware is able to steal votes even in the presence of a Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail.”

Wisconsin: Mixed ballots OK in recall primary | Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune

When voters go to the polls in a week for a statewide recall primary, they will have the option to cross party lines with their votes. Voters may select only one candidate each in the race for governor and lieutenant governor, but they don’t need to stick to one political party with their votes, which is unusual for a primary, said Cindy Cepress, Wood County clerk. In Wisconsin Rapids, it should be easy to understand the ballots, said Shane Blaser, Wisconsin Rapids clerk. The ballot has two columns, and Blaser is instructing poll workers to tell people to vote for one person in each column.

Wisconsin: Local governments face challenge to pay $17 million price tag for recall elections | Green Bay Press Gazette

The governor’s office might not be the only place affected by Wisconsin’s recall election. Local governments are facing a price tag of about $17 million for the related contests. Officials are scrambling to make up for five- and six-figure expenses that have not been figured into their 2012 budgets. In Northeastern Wisconsin’s largest county, for example, the clerk says she might not have enough manpower to keep up with the additional workload. “We’re buried. Just buried,” said Darlene Marcelle, Brown County clerk since 1996. “We’re going to need a temporary employee just to keep up with this.” Her staff estimates that it will spend almost $122,000 to conduct the May 8 recall primary, according to figures from the state Government Accountability Board. The June 5 general recall vote likely will double that cost. Outagamie County expects to spend about $132,000 per election. Seven smaller counties predict they’ll shell out a combined $140,000 on each contest.

Wisconsin: Cross-party line voting approved for recall election | The Badger Herald

The unprecedented nature of the upcoming recall primary elections has led a state board to determine that voting rules will differ from past primaries, allowing voters to vote for both Democrats and Republicans instead of receiving a single party primary ballot. Normal primaries, like the one that will occur on August 14, are considered one election, Government Accountability Board spokesperson Reid Magney said. However, he said because of the upcoming recall election, there will be six primaries, one for governor, one for lieutenant governor and four for the state senators, which are legally separate but held on the same day. Even though the elections are separate, there will only be one ballot, Magney said. Because there is also only one Republican primary election in the case of Gov. Scott Walker running against Madison citizen Arthur Kohl-Riggs, Magney said, those who wish to also participate can vote in the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor and the four senators. However, voters will not be able to vote in both the Republican and the Democratic primary for governor, Magney said.

Wisconsin: Nickolaus won’t run for re-election as Waukesha County clerk | JSOnline

Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus, widely criticized over the conduct of elections in her county, announced Saturday she has decided not to seek re-election in November. But the embattled clerk said in a prepared statement that she would not relinquish “any authority or responsibility” for upcoming elections through the end of her term because “I am the Waukesha County constitutional officer charged with the responsibility of elections.” After problems in the election earlier this month, Nickolaus reportedly agreed under pressure from County Executive Dan Vrakas to cede election responsibilities to her deputy for the upcoming recall races. Her campaign manager said Saturday she “never ever agreed to hand over the responsibility given to her constitutionally as clerk” to administer the elections. “Kathy is still in charge,” said the manager, Dan Hunt, adding Nickolaus was unavailable for comment.

Wisconsin: Recall Vote Is First Shot in Wider Union War | NYTimes.com

“Recall Walker” bumper stickers dotted the workers’ parking lot at the Georgia Pacific paper mill on Day Street here one recent afternoon, proof of their union’s role in the effort to oust Gov. Scott Walker from office early for his legislation limiting public employees’ bargaining rights. But among the largest donors to Mr. Walker and his cause are the plant’s owners, the billionaire industrialists Charles G. and David H. Koch, the latter of whom has said of the recall election to be held in June, “If the unions win the recall, there will be no stopping union power.” The recall vote here has been billed as a critical test of labor muscle versus corporate money. But it is only a warm-up for a confrontation that will play out during the presidential election, which both sides view as the biggest political showdown in at least 30 years between pro- and anti-union forces — a labor-management fight writ large.

Wisconsin: Appeals court turns away challenge to second voter ID injunction | Wisconsin State Journal

A state appeals court said Thursday that it won’t block enforcement of a court injunction that stopped enforcement of the photo ID requirements of Wisconsin’s voter ID law. A three-judge panel of the 4th District Court of Appeals said it would not stay the injunction issued last month by Dane County Circuit Judge Richard Niess in part because the state Attorney General’s Office failed to show that harm would result if the injunction remains in place. The case involves a lawsuit challenging the photo ID requirements for voters that was brought by the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin.

Wisconsin: Government Accountability Board announces plan to speed Waukesha election reports | JSOnline

Vote results from throughout Waukesha County should be available online more quickly in the recall elections because municipal clerks will be entering unofficial results directly into a state vote canvass reporting system, rather than leaving it to the county clerk’s staff. Those results will simultaneously be available to the Waukesha County clerk’s office, which is still responsible for posting results on election night. In a statement Tuesday, Kevin Kennedy, director and general counsel for the Government Accountability Board, said the agency created Wisconsin’s canvass reporting system using a federal grant in 2010 so county clerks could use it to report canvass results – the official totals that are checked several days after an election – to the state electronically. However, the Web-based system was built with a tool for municipal clerks to enter unofficial results on election night. Kennedy said all Waukesha County municipal clerks will be asked to use that tool for the May 8 primaries and the June 5 recalls.

Wisconsin: Judge postpones voter ID law decision until after recall election | Wausau Daily Herald

A lawsuit challenging Wisconsin’s voter identification law won’t be resolved before this spring’s recall elections. Dane County Circuit Judge David Flanagan set a schedule Thursday that will extend the case at least several weeks beyond the June 5 general recall election, saying the matter is complex and he wants to give attorneys ample time to document their arguments. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and immigrant advocacy group Voces de la Frontera filed a lawsuit in Madison in December alleging the ID requirements place an unreasonable burden on voters. But state attorneys argue few people lack photo IDs and say concerns about obtaining IDs are overblown.

Wisconsin: Van Hollen appeals redistricting ruling to U.S. Supreme Court | JSOnline

Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen asked the U.S. Supreme Court Thursday to overturn a decision by a three-judge panel that found maps of two state Assembly districts violated Latinos’ voting rights. The U.S. Supreme Court is required to take the case and will have the final say on what election maps are in place around the state for the next decade starting this fall. A panel of federal judges in Milwaukee last month ruled that Assembly Districts 8 and 9 on Milwaukee’s south side violated the Voting Rights Act. This month the panel approved new maps for the two districts drawn by Democrats and Latinos who sued the state over the issue. Those who sued, including the immigrant rights group Voces de la Frontera, contended that a host of maps for other legislative and congressional districts violated the law, but the panel did not side with them on those arguments.

Wisconsin: Voter ID case won’t be resolved for Walker, senate recall elections | The Oshkosh Northwestern

A lawsuit challenging Wisconsin’s voter identification law won’t be resolved before this spring’s recall elections. Dane County Circuit Judge David Flanagan set a briefing schedule Thursday that will extend the case at least several weeks beyond the general recall election on June 5, saying the matter is complex and he wants to give attorneys ample time to document their arguments. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and immigrant advocacy group Voces de la Frontera filed a lawsuit in Madison in December alleging the ID requirements create an unreasonable burden on voters. But state attorneys argue that few people lack photo IDs and that concerns about obtaining IDs are overblown.

Wisconsin: Government Accountability Board says six fake Democrats can run in recall elections | The Oshkosh Northwestern

The state elections board voted unanimously Tuesday to allow six Republicans to run as Democrats to appear on the ballot in Wisconsin’s upcoming recall elections against Gov. Scott Walker and five other Republicans. The decision of the retired judges who sit on the state Government Accountability Board means that all six of the races will have a May 8 primary election and a general recall election on June 5. The GAB agreed with the recommendation of its staff, which was released in a Monday memo, that elections officials did not have the legal authority to keep the six fake Democrats, or “protest candidates,” from the ballot because state law doesn’t require people to prove they belong to any political party before running for office. And GAB staff counsel Mike Haas told the board that Wisconsin elections officials can’t investigate the motives of candidates or their political affiliation. “It’s a bad precedent for us to question the motivations of candidates on the ballot,” said Kevin Kennedy, the GAB director and general counsel.

Wisconsin: Fake Democrats acceptable in recall election, Wisconsin officials say | Herald Times Reporter

Six Republicans running as Democrats in this spring’s recall elections should be allowed a place on the ballot, state election officials said Monday. The state Government Accountability Board is scheduled to vote today on whether to disqualify the candidates. Board attorney Michael Haas wrote in a memo to the board that the candidates should be allowed to run because state law doesn’t require people to prove they belong to any political party before they can run for office. Voters can condone or condemn the candidates at the polls, Haas wrote. “(The candidates’ actions) are products of political calculation and decision-making, and as such they can be rewarded or rejected during the course of the campaigns and the elections,” Haas wrote. Democrats have forced Gov. Scott Walker and five other Republicans into recall elections to punish them for passing a contentious law last year that stripped public workers of their union rights. The GAB has scheduled elections for May 8 and June 5. The state Republican Party openly recruited candidates to run as fake Democrats in every race. The move ensures a Democratic primary will be held in every race May 8. That means no Republican incumbent will have to face a general election that day, when Democrats will be out in force to pick their gubernatorial challenger.

Wisconsin: Supreme Court refuses to take up Wisconsin voter ID cases | JSOnline

The state Supreme Court refused Monday to immediately take up a pair of cases that struck down the state’s new voter ID law, a decision that will likely mean citizens won’t have to show identification when they cast ballots in recall elections in May and June. The court’s terse orders send the cases back to two different appeals panels, though the cases could eventually return to the Supreme Court. The justices issued their orders just three weeks before the May 8 primary for Democrats to pick a candidate to run against Republican Gov. Scott Walker in the June 5 recall election. Dane County Circuit Judge David Flanagan in March blocked the voter ID law for the April presidential primary, saying it likely disenfranchised voters, based on testimony that there are more than 220,000 Wisconsin residents who do not have photo IDs but who are otherwise qualified to vote. A trial in that case began Monday, and Flanagan is expected to decide whether to lift his injunction or block the law permanently after it concludes this week. The case was brought by the Milwaukee branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the immigrant rights group Voces de la Frontera.

Wisconsin: Supreme Court won’t take voter ID cases, law remains blocked pending Appeals Court action | AP

The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Monday declined to consider the state’s appeals of two rulings blocking Wisconsin’s new voter ID law from taking effect, leaving the issue to lower courts to decide even with recall elections against the governor and five other Republican officials only weeks away.The  court didn’t explain why it wasn’t taking up the state’s appeals in its two single-page orders, which it issued hours after a trial began in one of the cases. The decision means the law, which would require voters to present photo identification at the polls, will remain blocked pending a ruling by one of the appeals courts, which could come before the May 8 primary elections or June 5 general elections. Gov. Scott Walker, the lieutenant governor and three Republican state senators are facing recall elections, and the seat of another GOP senate recall target who recently stepped down is also up for grabs.

Wisconsin: Trial in Wisconsin voter ID lawsuit begins | Channel3000

A trial began Monday in a case challenging Wisconsin’s law requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls. Also on Monday, the Wisconsin Supreme Court said that it won’t be taking up two cases pertaining to the state’s controversial voter ID law. That means the trial starting Monday in one of the two lawsuits is proceeding. The news came as lawyers made opening arguments in connection to a lawsuit brought by the Milwaukee chapter of the NAACP and Voces de la Frontera, an immigrants’ rights group. Both groups argue the law disenfranchises voters. NAACP attorney Richard Saks said testimony will show there are hundreds of thousands of voters who don’t have the required ID necessary to vote. “As such, this law needlessly imposes an onerous and unreasonable burden on otherwise qualified voters from participating in elections in the state of Wisconsin,” Saks said.

Wisconsin: John Doe probe looms over Walker’s recall election | JSOnline

It’s the biggest question hanging over Gov. Scott Walker’s recall election: Will Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm file additional criminal charges as part of his John Doe probe before the June 5 election? For nearly two years, Chisholm’s office has been looking into various activities in Milwaukee County during Walker’s time as county executive. So far, prosecutors have brought charges against three ex-Walker aides, one appointee and a major campaign contributor. Chisholm has sent strong signals that additional charges are in the offing. Walker – who has set up a legal defense fund to pay his two lawyers – said recently that he trusted Chisholm and his staff to decide when and whether to file additional charges. “They’ll run their course one way or the other,” Walker said at a Milwaukee appearance last week. “It truly should be left up to them, and it’s why we’ve been able to cooperate so much.”

Wisconsin: Democrats want faux candidates out of recall election | Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune

Democrats asked state elections officials on Thursday to block six Republicans trying to run as Democrats from the ballots for this spring’s recall elections. Democratic Party of Wisconsin attorney Jeremy Levinson filed Thursday’s complaint against the Republican Party of Wisconsin and the six people it recruited to run as fake Democrats, or so-called “protest candidates.” The complaint, filed with the state Government Accountability Board, said the GOP and fake Democrats — Gladys Huber, Isaac Weix, Gary Ellerman, Tamra Varebrook, James Engel and James Buckley — gave false information on documents submitted to elections officials. “The respondents falsified information on these documents, asserting that the six phony primary candidates were ‘affiliated’ with and ‘represent’ the Democratic Party,” the complaint reads.