City, county spar over ballot supply

[RetroLounge]

Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker, citing vote-fraud concerns, is publicly balking at a City of Milwaukee request for almost 260,000 additional ballots in anticipation of high turnout for the Nov. 2 presidential election

Mayor Tom Barrett blasted Walker's stance, and Common Council President Willie Hines Jr. immediately joined in, saying it was an attempt to suppress the central-city vote.

"I'm going to lay this at the footsteps of the county if there aren't enough ballots in the city," said Barrett.

Barrett said that the 679,000 ballots the county had agreed to print were less than the amount prepared for the presidential election in 2000 as well as for the the gubernatorial race in 2002. He and the city's top election official said that the city requested 938,000 ballots from the county, which, by law, pays for and prints ballots.

http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/oct04/266144.asp

They are trying to screw the voters already, these Repugs POS's.

RL

[sybylla]

1. Heard about this yesterday. The article make it sound like it's

a done deal and Milwaukee is SOL. Is that the case? Will Milwaukee get more ballots?

I hadn't heard the "less than 2000" claim yet. Seems ridiculous to me. I think there ought to be a march on Scott Walker's office. There's still plenty of time to print more ballots if he can be convinced to do so asap.

[vireo]

2. Yes, let's march!

Our right to vote should not be at the discretion of a partisan hack! Every election should be able to accomodate 100% turnout, especially when voters can register at the polls.
This is unacceptable!

[LittleClarkie]

3. Does anyone listen to Mark Belling

I know, a difficult task but somebody's got to keep track of the bastard.

He had Barrett on his show on Tuesday, badgering him on the election official no getting back to Mark about possible voter fraud allegations involving one of the voter registration groups.

Barrett answered that he wanted to protect against voter fraud and voter suppression, the second of which Mark reacted to as if it were synonymous with "voter fraud."

"The Democrats want enough ballots so that they can cheat and steal this election," seemed to be what he was saying.

The most disturbing thing for me was, if I heard him correctly, it sounded like Mark was saying that there would be Republicans at each of the polls, challenging voters. They can't do that, can they? Wouldn't the threat of being hassled tend to encourage people to stay home. He said that every battleground state would be in chaos. Does anyone know what Mark was specifically talking about? (the paranoid part of me thought it sounded like a vague threat -- surely there's a way of preventing this)

[vireo]

5. He probably was referring to "poll monitors"

From JS Online:

"Particularly in certain parts of Milwaukee, a voter might find a lawyer from the district attorney's office, one representing Republicans and another representing Democrats, as well as non-lawyer monitors from other organizations."

<snip>

"Kevin Kennedy, executive director of the state Elections Board, said that under state law people have a right to monitor polling places as long as they do not promote any candidates, create disturbances or interfere with the balloting. He said large numbers of lawyers had not worked as monitors in prior elections."

http://www.jsonline.com/news/state/oct04/266093.asp

[sybylla]

4. There is an action thread on this in the GD-2004 forum

Click here to send Scott Walker and Kevin Kennedy your thoughs on the subject.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=1067291#1067691

[Lefta Dissenter]

6. I don't understand what the big deal is

with printing more ballots, that is. Don't you guys use the optical scan 'complete the arrow' ballots?

I posted in a different thread that I talked with our town admin today (in Town of Middleton), because I've volunteered to work at the polls. I asked him about the number of ballots and the possibility of running out as a result of high turnout. He said:

-In 2000 we had 80some percent turnout. That was 2700 voters.
-He has ordered 3700 ballots.
-If they run low, they first call other polling places to see if they have extras
-If they can't find any, they can make them on the copier. He said it's sort of a pain, because then those ballots have to be hand-counted, but that they won't let anyone leave without voting.

Sounds simple, doesn't it? :shrug:

[vireo]

7. Of course,

if this was Ohio those copied ballots would be rejected for being the wrong paper weight. ;)
<waving to a fellow Town of Middletoner> :hi:

[Lefta Dissenter]

8. Hey!

:hi:

So, where in Middleton are you? Are you the one who keeps stealing my Kerry signs - just so you can fill your own yard? :shrug: I keep pretending that's why they're disappearing. :(

[vireo]

11. Sorry to hear about your signs, VC

I'm near the town hall and haven't noticed any thefts in that area. In fact, several have sprouted this week (maybe yours are among them) ;)

[Lefta Dissenter]

13. well,

if a sign shows up with crisco all over the edges, let me know, that's one of mine!!! :hi:

[vireo]

18. Perhaps Ashcroft took it!

;(

[shoelace414]

9. but..

-If they run low, they first call other polling places to see if they have extras

ballots from different polling places have different ballots (local races or the like), they can't swap ballots between polling places

-If they can't find any, they can make them on the copier. He said it's sort of a pain, because then those ballots have to be hand-counted, but that they won't let anyone leave without voting.

"We are making copies so you can vote, the ballots will be here in 30 minutes"

<walks off in a huff>

[sybylla]

10. Agreed

Not having enough ballots will disenfranchise voters who only have a limited time to spend a the polls or who are not patient with the process.

[Lefta Dissenter]

12. Our local races and referendum

questions are on separate ballots. As far as I know, all of the ballots for the federal seats are identical throughout our congressional district. But considering how long this guy has been doing this - I'm sure this is something that has occurred to him.

As I said, our township ordered 3700 ballots, which is an increase of 37% from the 2000 election. We had turnout in the high 80some percent in 2000. If we had had 100% turnout in 2000, that would have been at most 3375 voters (that's assuming 80%, not the high 80some that he said). So given population increase, we still SHOULD have enough ballots, even if we would have 100% turnout. HOWEVER, I am glad to know that there are plans just in case many unannounced and previously unregistered voters turn up. Something tells me that they wouldn't wait until they're down to the last ballot and then say, "Oh, I have to run and make some copies." They DO have a copier in the town hall, after all. :eyes:

I'm not sure why you're being so negative here. Have you checked into the contingency plans for your polling place? I'm pretty proud of our little township, not only because the town clerk is determined that everyone will be able to vote, but also because we have such good turnout... not people who will stomp off in a huff if they have to use a xeroxed ballot.

[shoelace414]

14. I look at both arguments

1) We can't print that many ballots because of voter fraud.

what does that mean? because there are extra ballots sitting around that doesn't mean they are going to end up in the voting machine. there are people around watching that. extra ballots does not help create voter fraud.

2) we may run out of ballots and disenfranchise voters

yes.. this can happen it is possiable. since people can register the day of the voting, and plus if you mark too many arrows the machine spits out your ballot and you are given a new ballot to mark. there are security measures on the ballot that makes it so the ballot counting machines will not take a ballot from a different ward, requiring a manual count instead.

the mayor of Milwaukee wants X number of ballots, why is the county exec saying "you can't have them"

[Lefta Dissenter]

15. We're not disagreeing about Milwaukee

I don't know what the individual polling places are like in Milwaukee, but in our little town, it would be pretty difficult to pick up a bunch of extra ballots and mark them and deposit them into the machine. The little old lady (or middle-age lady, if that ends up being my job) hands each person the sleeve with ballots inside as they go through the line. Of course, the little old lady can always stuff the box, I suppose, if she manages to stash a bunch of ballots in her bra or something... but then the optical reading machine watcher person would have to be in on it, as well.

The reason the Town of Middleton doesn't order 10,000 ballots is because they cost $.25 a piece, and we're on a shoestring budget here. But, again, I find it unlikely that we will run out, with the number ordered.

I find NO EXCUSE for Milwaukee. My original point upthread (or was it a different thread?) was that there should be a contingency plan at every polling place, to be sure that everyone can vote! Simple as that - we're not disagreeing.

[shraby]

16. There is a petition here:

<http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=17242>

[LibbyLou]

17. sent to Election Board

Please keep pressure squarely on S. Walker to ensure that ballot levels will be increased.

Dear Sir,

After speaking with both Scott Walker's office and Mr. Barrett's office and reviewing the facts surrounding the request for more ballots at each polling location, I've concluded that there is a real possibility of voter disenfranchisement if adequate quantities of ballots are not created in advance.

I'm sure Mr. Walker wants a fair and stress free experience for each voter in Milwaukee and just doesn't understand the impact of the several GET OUT THE VOTE initiatives in the state of Wisconsin.
I've personally registered 26 voters from Milwaukee and know of at least 20 other persons who have done much more. Why wouldn't it make sense to create enough ballots so that the polling locations are adequately provided for?

I'm sure that if Mr. Walker more closely examined his reason of possible voter chaos and the illegal grabbing of ballots, he'd see year and even with our lower number of poll workers, the ballots were safe and protected at all times. Let's not allow Wisconsin to appear highly suspect for not printing the proper estimate of ballots.that it was quite preposterous. I was a poll worker in Wauwatosa last

I look forward to hearing that this issue was put to rest with the right judgment of increasing the ballots for each polling location. Thank you for your review and efforts in this matter.

[sybylla]

19. Gov. Doyle's response to my e-mail

Thank you for contacting me in response to concerns that have been raised about the number of ballots available for the City of Milwaukee.

I believe we have a solemn responsibility to ensure that the upcoming
election goes smoothly, and that the citizens of Milwaukee and all of
Wisconsin have the chance to exercise their constitutional right to vote--no matter how they feel about the candidates or issues. Therefore, I have called on the State Elections Board to examine the number of ballots in Milwaukee County to determine if more ballots should be made available as a sensible precaution in case turnout is very high.

In previous elections - even when many ballots were printed - there were reports of ballot shortages at some precincts around the state. This year, there is every reason to expect that turnout will be the highest that it has been in many years. Nevertheless, there are fewer ballots being made available per ward in 2004 than in 2000 or even 2002 - which was not a presidential election year.

It is not just a matter of ensuring that the City of Milwaukee as a whole has enough ballots, but that each individual precinct has enough ballots, with the full slate of candidates for their ward. If turnout is higher than expected, there is a chance that some precincts could be overwhelmed, and there is absolutely no reason whatsoever not to plan ahead and take the right precautions. It just does not make sense to have many fewer ballots than the last election when turnout could be much higher.

Under state law, the Elections Board is responsible for making sure that the County has enough ballots on November 2 so that no one is disenfranchised. I have urged urged the Board to take a close look at the refusal by Milwaukee County to provide the number of ballots requested by the City and determine whether the County has abused its authority.

We must do everything possible to protect the right to vote for all
citizens, whether they are in Milwaukee, Waukesha, or any other part of our state. We share a responsibility to make sure every voice is heard on November 2.

Again, thank you for contacting me. It is a privilege to serve as your
Governor, and I always appreciate hearing from you. Please feel free to
contact me any time I can be of help to you.

Sincerely,


Jim Doyle
Governor

[RevCheesehead]

20. Glad to see Jim on top of this issue. n/t

[Big Al from WI]

21. Full number of ballots will be printed

<http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/oct04/267130.asp>

Who knows what finally made Walker give in, but it looks like he did.

[sybylla]

22. I'm glad it's resolved but

I think Tom Barrett gave in too soon. He should have let Walker stew in his own juices a little longer. That man needs a lesson in bad publicity. Barrett could have let it go to the election board hearing first.