The Brawler is gratified that the Milwaukee Police Department issued a report that, following in the lead of Biskupic and others, concluded that there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud conspiracy in Milwaukee in 2004.
It did find a lot of sloppy book keeping, some people who were likely confused about where to vote and some students who didn't know how to fill out their cards, a lot of honest mistakes (including some confused Wauwatosa voters drifting to a nearby City of Milwaukee polling station to cast their ballot) ... as well as some evidence of clear wrongdoing (a Chicago DJ voting in Milwaukee, f'rinstance).
Observes Rick Hasen, a law professor who closely tracks voter fraud issues:
From my skim it appears that the investigation found that most claims of double voting were the result of either clerical error or father and son having the same name, but that there was some evidence of some isolated cases of double voting and much more evidence of incompetence in running the electoral system making further investigation impossible. Given the administrative problems, the report strongly recommends against election day registration of voters, finding that many ineligible voters can be registered during the process.
I am sure that both sides in the "access" v. "integrity" debate will have much to tout and argue with in this report.
Now, obviously, the Brawler disagrees with the report's recommendation against same-day registration or implementation of voter ID.
It seems an excessive response to what are, at the end of the day, a small number of violations out of the sea of votes. It would likely stop more good people from voting than it would stop bad folks from doing wrong. And while the report makes the argument that a group could theoretically conspire to abuse the system to win a local election, that's an extremely strained case to make. Organizing hundreds, if not thousands, of people to commit voter fraud is a high risk endeavor in which the potential downside far outstrips the theoretical rewards.
The Brawler does agree with the report when it says if the systems remains the same that "it is recommended that the Election Inspectors be provided with the adequate training and resources to ensure that thay are not allowing persons who live outside the City of Milwaukee to vote."
XOff, as well as the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, make the point that a lot of changes have already been made in the system since the 2004 election. That said, the Brawler was at one polling spot in Milwaukee in 06 in which the late-day surge was unreal -- and this was likely nothing compared to 2004. The valorous old ladies manning the tables did a bang up job. But it's clearly an environment in which honest mistakes can be made.
The MPD report does make helpful suggestions -- having people standing outside polling stations to screen people coming in to make sure they're in the right place, for instance -- but making the leap from what it found to overturning the way elections are done in Wisconsin goes way too far.
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