Rep. Vos Alleges Voting Impropriety, One Wisconsin Now Demands the Proof

Unjustified Allegations and Attempt to Manipulate Voting Laws Is the Real Election Fraud in Wisconsin

Madison -- In a weekend television appearance, incoming Assembly Speaker Rep. Robin Vos justifed his opposition to Wisconsin’s nearly four decade old same day voter registration law saying, “When you go in for same day registration many times people show a bill that doesn’t even have a date on it … So how do we know that the person has been a resident for 28 days?”

In a letter to Vos, One Wisconsin Now Executive Director Scot Ross requested the specific information on which Vos’ statements were based and any record of notifying law enforcement or election administrators of his alleged knowledge of instances of improper voter registration.

“Rep. Vos is the latest state official to make allegations about voting impropriety in an attempt to take away voter rights and to justify manipulating election law for their partisan political benefit. It seems that Vos is the one committing the real fraud here,” commented Ross.

Final numbers are not yet available for the November 2012 election but, according to the state Government Accountability Board, over one million Wisconsin voters registered to cast their ballot on Election Day in the November general elections in 2006, 2008 and 2010, including over 460,000 alone in the 2008 presidential election. In these same elections, the rate of voter participation in Wisconsin was among the highest in the nation.

Prior to Vos’ Wisconsin television comments, Gov. Walker called for the elimination of same day voter registration in Wisconsin in a speech delivered in California. In response, One Wisconsin Now and partner organizations last week delivered over 15,000 petition signatures from citizens in favor of protecting Wisconsin’s same day voter registration law to Gov. Walker.

One Wisconsin Now has also recently written to Senator Alberta Darling and the Washington County District Attorney about comments made by Senator Glenn Grothman, suggesting that voting impropriety has impacted Wisconsin election results. To date, neither Senator Darling nor Senator Grothman have shared any proof to back up their claims, or provided any record of their providing authorities with their “information”.

Ross concluded, “Rep. Vos’ predilection for creating more barriers to voting in Wisconsin is disturbing. But his apparent willingness to make misleading or outright false statements about voting impropriety to justify manipulating state election laws for your partisan political benefits is reprehensible.”