Green Bay’s Republican City Clerk is using what should be a non-partisan office to push his right-wing political agenda to restrict voting rights.

Chad Weininger, the former deputy chief of staff for ex-Rep. Mark Green (R) who was a staunch advocate for restrictive voter ID laws in Congress and throughout his unsuccessful campaign for governor, is pushing weak evidence of “voter fraud” in order to claim the state needs to restrict voting by requiring ID at the polls:

-- One case involves a patient who’s on probation at the Winnebago Mental Health Institute who cast an absentee ballot.

-- Another case involves a man who used a local business as his home address when registering to vote.

-- A third case involves a man who listed a post office box as his residential address, which isn't legal on voter registration.

This is not voter fraud – this is voter registration error. These people were not casting multiple ballots or engaging in wide-scale fraud. They were just seeking to cast a single ballot for themselves. And isn’t that merely what we’re granted under the constitution? One man, one vote?

A City Clerk’s job should be to ensure that everyone who wants to vote gets access and opportunity to cast a ballot. A clerk’s job is not to prevent as many people as he can from casting ballots, which is what a voter ID requirement would do.

Now that the Republicans have opened the MacIver Institute, yet another GOP front group to go with the Wisconsin Public Research Institute, the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance, Wisconsin Institute for Leadership, Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, Americans for Prosperity, Coalition for America’s Families, Club for Growth, All Children Matter, Americans for Tax Reform, Wisconsin Family Council and School Choice Wisconsin (whew), One Wisconsin Now thought it might be good for the media to have information on exactly who the leaders of this Republican operation are.

Cory Liebmann did some phenomenal investigation as the group readied its launch. One of the key figures surrounding this new organization is former Assembly Speaker, Republican Scott Jensen. Jensen, who was convicted in the so-called caucus scandal and currently spends his time making money from pro-privatizing public education forces.

WMC’s empty suit on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, Michael Gableman, has responded to the complaint filed against him by the State Judicial Commission. Gableman ran what is widely acknowledged as one of the sleaziest campaigns in the history of the high court.

The specific charges in this matter surround Gableman’s Willie Horton-style TV ad against his opponent former-Justice Louis Butler. It clearly implied that Butler, while serving as a public defender, enabled a sex offender to be released and that the offender then went on to commit more egregious crimes. At best the Gableman ad was a clear effort to mislead the public and at worst it was a premeditated and contemptible lie. Either way Gableman’s actions clearly violated the Code of Judicial Conduct which is the case being made by the Judicial Commission.

Part of Gableman’s breathtaking “defense” against the Judicial Commission is that the state’s statutes on judicial candidates making misleading or confusing statements is unconstitutional. Based on that he apparently believes that he has the right to mislead the public whenever he chooses! Only in Gableman’s small world would an elected official fight tooth and nail to defend his perceived “right” to lie to the public without repercussion. What is next from Gableman? A passionate argument defending his imaginary “right” to libel? Actually, as absurd as that may sound, one could very reasonably suggest that he is trying to make that very case right now.

Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen’s partisan lawsuit against the Government Accountability Board (GAB) endangered the right to vote for scores of Wisconsinites. It also forced taxpayers to pay the bill coming and going. Thanks to J.B. we had to pay for both filing the frivolous lawsuit and for defending against it. Now we find out that it may have cost the state in a few other ways.

Over the weekend the Associated Press reported that two assistant attorneys general told Van Hollen’s top aide that they were close to reaching a favorable settlement on cases in which they were representing the GAB. They also advised him that filing Van Hollen’s suit against the GAB would derail their progress in the matter saying:

However, as I also indicated, there is virtually no likelihood of exploring, much less settling, these cases if this office files an action against GAB ... If such a filing is in the offing, you need to know this.

Not only was the partisan suit “in the offing” but Van Hollen actually filed it a very short time after being warned about the consequences that it would have on his office’s defense of the GAB in other cases.

Thankfully Van Hollen’s partisan lawsuit was thrown out of court before it was allowed to disenfranchise Wisconsin voters in an election that by all accounts ran very smoothly. Unfortunately, there still were other casualties of his partisan lawsuit: taxpayer dollars and important cases where he should have been focused on defending the State of Wisconsin not suing it.

Former State Rep. Debi Towns continues to receive the backing from All Children Matter, an organization that remains under a legal cloud in Wisconsin after the State Elections Board determined in November 2006 that they violated rules about express advocacy. Top donors to the lawbreaking pro-private vouchers group have given Towns over $8,000. They have also sent out smear mailings on her behalf and placed a large television buy in her media market.

All Children Matter is the $10 million out-of-state, pro-private school vouchers group financed by right wing billionaires and millionaires, including Dick and Betsy DeVos and the Wal-Mart heirs. All Children Matter, which has blanketed the state with racist attacks against numerous Democratic elected officials and candidates, was fined $5.2 million by the Ohio Elections Commission on April 4 for illegally funneling $870,000 into Ohio campaigns.

As forecast yesterday, the GOP mailer tries to make it look like Obama is a terrorist who wishes he had planted more bombs.

Pardon the expression, but it should blow up in the GOP's face.

From the moment that state Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen filed his frivolous lawsuit against the Government Accountability Board (GAB) it was clear to any honest observer that it was without merit and motivated by rank partisanship. That was confirmed later when it was revealed that Van Hollen’s office had multiple communications with Republican Party officials prior to filing the suit.

While trying to defend his partisan actions, Van Hollen insisted that the GAB was not following the law even though it was carrying out the proper checks as required. Van Hollen’s insistence on checking names retroactively all the way back to 2006 would have caused mass chaos at the polls and could have disenfranchised hundreds of thousands of voters. All of this drama over some nonexistent requirement that Van Hollen, a McCain co-chair, made up out of whole cloth.

Republicans have been busy slandering ACORN in recent weeks improperly alleging “voter fraud.” One has to wonder how these same people will respond to the fact that the California Republican Party hired a firm whose owner has been arrested for possible voter registration fraud.

Reports state that Mark Jacoby, owner of Young Political Majors, was arrested for fraudulently registering himself to vote at a childhood California address where he no longer lives so he would appear to meet the legal requirement that all signature gatherers be eligible to vote in California. If true, it would appear that he committed the crime in an attempt to get an easy pay check from the GOP. If we are using the same flawed model as conservatives have used with ACORN, then we must condemn the GOP for engaging in some grand conspiracy to commit “voter fraud.”

To add insult to injury, there was an entirely different problem with Jacoby and his firm’s actions. The arrest actually came after dozens of voters said that they were duped into registering as Republicans by people employed by Jacoby. The Republican Party of California was paying his firm $7 to $12 for every person that they could get registered.

How long will we have to wait for conservatives to start feigning outrage over the actions of the California Republican Party and the arrested leader of the firm that they themselves hired?

It has certainly become an important question. Just Who Will JB Van Hollen Disenfranchise if the partisan lawsuit that he has filed is successful? According to the Government Accountability Board the answer could be over one million Wisconsin voters.

We already know that Van Hollen’s office communicated with Republican Party of Wisconsin officials about the suit before it was actually filed and we are also well aware of the fact that Van Hollen is a co-chair of the John McCain presidential campaign. We have seen these kinds of partisan uses of public office before and we will not let Florida in 2000 become Wisconsin in 2008!

To this end, One Wisconsin Now is debuting a new web video entitled “WWJBD?” to ensure that people across Wisconsin have the facts and know the impact if Van Hollen’s partisan lawsuit succeeds. It includes a petition to tell Van Hollen once and for all to dump this partisan lawsuit. You can VIEW THE VIDEO at SaveWisconsinsVote.org!

Please watch the video, sign the petition and pass it along to your friends! The more people that see this video and sign the petition, the louder our untied voice will be. We are not only left with the question, “who will JB disenfranchise?” but more importantly we must ask ourselves, what are we prepared to do about it?

Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen filed a legal brief with Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi on Wednesday. In it he asked the judge not to dismiss his partisan case against the Government Accountability Board (GAB).

As we have already learned, Van Hollen's office first communicated with Republican Party officials about the matter before the suit was filed. We also know that J.B. Van Hollen is a co-chair of the McCain presidential campaign. His frivolous lawsuit could very directly benefit John McCain’s campaign in Wisconsin by disenfranchising specific groups of legitimate voters. Some have estimated that hundreds of thousands of voters could face problems at the polls if Van Hollen’s suit is successful.

In announcing the filing of his latest legal brief, Van Hollen claims that the GAB, an entity made up of six former judges, simply doesn’t understand his lawsuit. Are we really supposed to dismiss the concerns of such a distinquished panel of proven legal minds because J.B. says so? Not likely. Nobody likes a know-it-all, especially one that is threatening our most basic right as citizens.

I just concluded my most recent blog by saying that the right wing had very bad intentions regarding our right to vote. Shortly after I got that blog posted I came across a news item from the Washington Post that not only confirms what I just said, but also carries it even further. The Washington Post has obtained a leaked email by the Republican Party of Wisconsin spelling out some of their potential plans for possible voter intimidation on Election Day.

According to the story by the Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter, Mary Pat Flaherty, the RPW email sought “names of Milwaukee area veterans, policemen, security personnel, firefighters…” to volunteer at inner city polling places, presumably to challenge voters, disqualify voters and create long lines which will cause working people to leave the polls without voting. The email suggested such specific kinds of people apparently because they find inner city polling locations “more intimidating.”

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is reporting that a man has been charged for registering to vote and trying to register others after being convicted of a felony. While this specific case may not directly apply, it does bring up some very important questions that we should be asking ourselves. In Wisconsin convicted felons are not allowed to vote until after they have completed the terms of their sentence. That could mean a prison term in addition to a long extended period of supervision.

Convicted felons often have to serve very long periods of probation and/or parole after they leave prison. One of the major goals of this supervision is that they become productive and fully integrate back into society. Exactly how are they supposed to do that if they are barred from voting, one of the most basic rights/responsibilities that we have as citizens? Many of them hold down jobs, pay taxes, provide for their families but still Wisconsin law refuses their right to vote.

According to an ACLU study, 62,324 people with felony convictions in Wisconsin are not allowed to vote; however, 61% of these people are no longer incarcerated. By not allowing them to vote, we are hindering their ability to reinstate themselves as active members of the community. According to Senator Russ Feingold, “…the more doors we close on people trying to rejoin society, the more likely it is we will drive them back to the behaviors we want them to leave behind.”

Wisconsin ’s felony disfranchisement laws are more severe than those of several of its neighboring states. Michigan , Illinois , Indiana and Ohio all automatically restore voting rights upon release from incarceration. Disenfranchisement in Wisconsin also disproportionately affects African American males and other minority populations. The ACLU study found that one out of nine African Americans males are disenfranchised because of Wisconsin ’s ex-offender laws. This statistic places Wisconsin 11th in the nation for the disenfranchisement of African American voters. This is obviously unacceptable and some might even call it Jim Crow, Wisconsin style. It is a disgrace and the current law should be changed.

After Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen filed his frivolous lawsuit against the Government Accountability Board (GAB), he claimed that his motives were not partisan. He went on to claim that his position as John McCain co-chair played no role in the suit even though the action could help McCain by disenfranchising hundreds of thousands of legal voters in Wisconsin. After his repeated denials, the media began to learn of multiple contacts that high level Van Hollen aides had with high level Republican Party operatives about the suit. It was not long after these contacts that Van Hollen filed the lawsuit. As if we have not already seen enough evidence of Van Hollen’s judgment being clouded by rank partisanship, now we actually have audio evidence of partisan plotting at the Republican convention in St. Paul.

Wispolitics has obtained a recording of J.B. Van Hollen addressing Wisconsin delegates to the Republican National Convention. In his remarks he clearly gives the partisan bunch a small taste of what he has planned for Wisconsin voters:

“We are out there front and center everyday and you'll be hearing much more from the Department of Justice in the coming months about doing what we can to make sure that those people who have illegally and illegitimately registered to vote, don't have the opportunity on election day to show up and take away your vote by casting one that is not legal.”

J.B. Van Hollen’s frivolous lawsuit against the Government Accountability Board, (GAB) is political mischief that could complicate voting for as many as 1 million people in Wisconsin. One Wisconsin Now, the League of Women Voters, municipal clerks, the GAB itself and many others have taken a stand against J.B. Van Hollen. Now the Milwaukee chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the Milwaukee Teachers Association are entering the fray.

Both organizations submitted a filing to the Dane County judge responsible for the case, arguing that Van Hollen’s checks are unreliable and could bar about 135,000 people who registered to vote in 2008 from the polls. The organizations also pointed to GAB figures that 15 percent of 53,515 registrants since August had failed the checks because of non-matches. Most of the non-matches are due to clerical errors, misspellings, a missing middle initial or an old address on a driver’s license. Even four of the six judges on the GAB board didn’t get exact matches.

It's time the Government Accountability Board to act on the recommendations of the former State Elections Board and penalize All Children Matter for violating Wisconsin election laws in 2006.

The Election Board ruled last year that All Children Matter broke the law, but the pro-private school vouchers group hit with a stunning $5.2 million fine in Ohio this April for illegal money funneling has yet to be punished by the GAB.

All Children Matter remains under investigation in Wisconsin after the State Elections Board determined in November 2006 it violated rules about express advocacy in opposing John Lehman's bid for the State Senate. A mailing by All Children Matter prompted a complaint by the Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and Health Care Professionals and the Milwaukee Teachers Education Association. The former Elections Board agreed that All Children Matter violated campaign laws for failing to register with the state prior to the $35,000 it spent directly advocating against Lehman.