May 17, 2016

Scott Walker, Wisconsin Republicans Exposed as Frauds at Voting Rights Trial

A long-time and now-ex Fitchburg, Wisconsin chief election inspector voted in the Wisconsin Spring Election and Presidential Preference election held on April 5, 2016.

Al Potts resigned from the contract position because he wanted no part of perpetuating a fraud on voters through the imposition of Scott Walker and the Republicans' photo voter ID law because the law is intended to suppress voters and render voting as burdensome a process as possible, (Woodward Communications, Inc.).

After exchanging pleasantries with his former colleagues on April 5, Potts had to produce an acceptable photo voter ID to prove he really was Al Potts, a political moderate active in municipal and civic politics, but publicly apolitical in state and national politics.

Potts and voting rights advocates have been proven correct in their assessment of the Republican-enacted law which was found constitutional by Republicans on the Wisconsin Supreme Court in February 2104, and in federal court where a challenge to the law failed on a five-to-five vote at the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in late 2104, (Sommerhauser, WISC-TV), (Mal Contends).

The U.S. Supreme Court denied the petition to grant cert challenging the constitutionality of Wisconsin's voter ID law as a qualification to vote in March 2015, (USA Today).

A federal trial that began May 16, 2106, (One Wisconsin Institute v. Nichol), for the first time introduces evidence of the intent of Republicans to use photo voter ID to block voters by citing the words of Republican legislators, particularly citing voiced intent to frustrate and destroy the vote in "Milwaukee" and on "college campuses" to help win elections for Republicans, (Sneed, TPM; Opoien, The Capital Times).

A motion to hear testimony, evidence and exhibits citing the public and private words of Republican lawmakers to use the voter ID law to win elections by blocking disfavored voters was granted by U.S. District Judge James Peterson on May 13.

On May 16, testimony by one witness, former Republican staffer Todd Allbaugh, offered what appears to be just the beginning of devastating evidence against Wisconsin Republicans' illegal and outlandish intent at the trial.

Al Potts joins voting rights activists, and Judge Richard Posner of the Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in sounding the alarm about Wisconsin Republicans' destroying votes in Republicans' "efforts to disenfranchise voters likely to vote for the political party that does not control the state government," (Posner, Frank v. Walker).

The bench trial is scheduled to end on Thursday, May 26, 2016, (One Wisconsin Institute, Inc., et al v. Nichol, et al, p.1).

2 comments:

  1. Excellent news. After hearing everyone testify about the reactions of "our" state legislators to this law, the court will have to agree that the law was designed to disenfranchise democratic voters.

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