Republican Stop-Voters Project Puts Racism on Display

Update: "Over 10,000 absentee ballots were dropped off with poll workers stationed at parks throughout Madison Saturday, and hundreds registered to vote during a first-time event called Democracy in the Park," reports The Capital Times.

Madison, Wisconsin — The Republican Party reaction to the Democracy in the Park initiative is telling.

Democracy in the Park is a City ballots event here that for two consecutive Sept-Oct Saturdays allows voters to drop off ballots at over 200 secure locations sited in City parks, and staffed by sworn election officials in blaze vests.

Madison residents can also get their absentee ballots witnessed, and can register to vote there, though they cannot obtain ballots in the manner of a polling place.

Wisconsin Republicans and rightwingers across the nation responding to news of last Saturday's Democracy in the Park were incensed.

"It’s going to take six months to unravel the Democrat fraud in this election," writes Republican actor James Woods.

Woods did not cite one instance of fraud, but to a Republican a black or brown person voting is an act of fraud in itself, as black or brown citizens are impersonating regular folks.

This is the fight of the modern Civil Rights movement playing out again, and it's a losing battle for Republicans and any Democrat who shies away from this fight.

People with black hair and dark skin are normal folks. But in Wisconsin, in Fitchburg alder District One, and among Republicans, this fact is under hysterical dispute.

Next Saturday is the second Democracy in the Park. 

News is after the first event, Madisonians may have gone too far: A statement from the City Clerk reads that the Madison Fire Dept washed the poll-workers' vests.

It's an outrage, call the police!

A big thank you to @MadisonWIFire for washing our poll worker high visibility vests this week! And thank you to the @CityofMadison City Assessor and Fleet Service Superintendent for also offering to help with this big task! #TeamCity pic.twitter.com/pdlpCG6Q8Q

— Madison WI Clerk (@MadisonWIClerk) September 27, 2020

I have worked as a poll worker in Madison and journalist covering the Madison commitment to allow voters to cast ballots and have ballots counted.

White rightwingers will, seriously, call the police on pro-voting activity. 

I have seen this racism and experienced it personally on multiple occasions.

The wrong people voting is a phenomenon white racists will never accept.

"The threat that this procedure poses to ballot integrity is manifestly obvious,' writes Misha Tseytlin, former Republican Wisconsin Solicitor General, on behalf of Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, (R-Juneau), and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, (R-Rochester).

The Madison City Attorney responded to Republicans in a two-page letter which makes quick work of the unsupported allegations. The City letter dated Sept 26, 2020 is reproduced below:

September 26, 2020

Dear Misha:

I am responding to your letter to Madison City Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl regarding the City’s Democracy in the Park event being held this weekend to facilitate voter registration and the legal return and collection of absentee ballots.

Your letter states that this event constitutes an “illegal collection of ballots” and “falls outside lawful categories” but you provide absolutely no legal support for that allegation. You simply cite statutes that outline the process for absentee voting. If you could please identify a statute that you believe is being violated, I could try to respond to your broad unsupported allegations.

You also state that the threat to ballot integrity is manifestly obvious. The procedures that the City Clerk has established to secure ballots are equivalent to the procedures used to secure all absentee ballots, which your clients have helped to establish in Wisconsin Statutes and found to be acceptable. Sworn election officials will retrieve ballots that have already been issued and will ensure that ballots are properly witnessed and are secured in sealed in absentee ballot envelopes and ballot containers with tamper-evident seals, to be tabulated on Election Day. The election officials will maintain a chain of custody log that is open to public inspection. No new ballots will be issued in the parks.

As you know, both major political parties are able to nominate election officials to work at polling places. The City of Madison invited election officials nominated by both the Republican and Democratic Parties to work at Democracy in the Park, and received no complaints or concerns regarding the procedures to be used from those officials.

You also state that there is no justification for this “ad hoc, unsecure and unlawful approach.” Clearly this event is neither unsecure nor unlawful or you would have cited a relevant prohibition. And the definition of “ad hoc” is “for this purpose only.” The justification to sponsor this event “for this purpose only” is that COVID-19 has placed significant pressure on both voters and election officials to facilitate as much voting as possible prior to Election Day. Governmental leaders from both political parties have
acknowledged this reality and encouraged voters to submit ballots early. In addition, the well-publicized challenges of the U.S. Postal Service have diminished the public’s trust in that agency to deliver ballots in a timely and transparent manner.

Your letter states that there is a “grave risk” that all of the ballots collected at Democracy in the Park will be challenged in court and ultimately invalidated. You cite Wis. Stat. § 6.93 in support of this statement. That statute states that absentee ballots may be challenged for cause. The administrative rules implementing that statute establish specific reasons for challenging a voter when the challenger has first-hand knowledge to suspect that the voter is not a qualified elector because 1) the person is not a citizen of the United States; 2) the person is not at least 18 years of age; 3) the person has not resided in the election district for at least 10 days; 4) the person has a felony conviction and has not been restored to civil rights; 5) the person has been adjudicated incompetent; or 6) the person has voted previously in the same election. See EL §§ 9.01 and 9.02, Wis. Adm. Code.

The allowable reasons do not include that the challenger does not like the manner in which an absentee ballot is returned. Any elector who abuses the right to challenge may be subject to sanctions under Wis. Stat. §7.41(3). EL § 9.02, Wis. Adm. Code. Given these provisions, I do not understand why you believe Wis. Stat. § 6.93 supports your threat that all ballots collected at Democracy in the Park are subject to challenge. If you have some legal basis for that statement, please share it so that the City can address your concern before the election and resolve any confusion that your allegations have caused. If there is
no legal basis, we request that you retract your letter to Clerk Witzel-Behl.

Absent any directive from the Wisconsin Elections Commission or a court, the City will proceed with Democracy in the Park, and it will process the ballots collected with other absentee ballots pursuant to Wisconsin Statutes. All voters are welcome to participate and observe the process which is designed to bring the entire community together to participate in democracy. I trust that is a goal you and your clients can support.

Finally, I invite you and your clients to pick up the phone and contact me or the City Clerk if you have additional questions or concerns about the manner in which the City of Madison conducts elections. I am glad to discuss your questions directly so that we can alleviate any concerns you and your clients may have, rather than having to obtain your letter from the media. This tactic demeans the seriousness of your allegations and signals a desire to simply discourage participation by voters in Madison.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Michael Haas
City Attorney

Wisconsin GOP Ousts Elections Agency Chief—Good Riddance

Michael Haas ousted as Wisconsin elections chief

Madison, Wisconsin—Good news out of Wisconsin as a state bureaucrat, Michael Haas who does not understand the powerful, affirmative right to vote in this state, has been ousted as the state Elections administrator.

The state senate Republicans justified the action by making liberty claims concerning John Doe public integrity probes.

"The Wisconsin Senate voted Tuesday to oust leaders of the bipartisan state agencies charged with running elections and overseeing ethics laws, the latest move by Republicans to exact revenge on anyone connected with a now-closed investigation into Gov. Scott Walker and other conservatives," reports Scott Bauer, (AP).

There is little doubt this act by the Republican-led state senate is an act of political retaliation.

But there is little doubt that the now-defunct John Doe statute was an over-the-top mechanism to probe public integrity crimes.

Even less doubt exists that Haas sees his job as flacking for municipal election clerks who obstruct voting rights, an increasingly common occurrence in Wisconsin.
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A victim of voter obstruction, Mal Contends on Aug 9, 2016, was obstructed from voting for a full 35 minutes on a ridiculous pretext in Fitchburg, Wisconsin.

I have spoken with, and engaged in email conversations with Haas numerous times and the only tangible move from Haas is his suggestion that as an option I vote absentee to avoid hostile poll workers.

I should not have to vote absentee; Haas' suggestion that I vote absentee avoids the question I posed asking why Fitchburg poll workers feel empowered to obstruct voters with whom they have an animus.

Good riddance.

Wisconsin Election Commission Is Knee-Deep in CYA Following Feds' Alert Russia Targeted State

Nothing to see here, nothing happened, but we're beefing up
security because of vulnerabilities, say Wisconsin election pols.

Clean Wisconsin elections give way to partisans and bureaucrat's hollow assurances of 'nothing to see here' after feds alert 21 states hackers targeted their systems.

Madison, Wisconsin — In November 2016, the Wisconsin Election Commission, (WEC), Chair, Mark L. Thomsen, declared there is no need for a hand recount of the Wisconsin presidential election because Thomsen said he knew the recount would not change the electoral results.

This was an inappropriate statement for the WEC Chair to make as recounts are governed by Wisconsin statutes and are supposed to guard the liberty and suffrage interests of Wisconsin citizens and candidates in assuring clean, fair and impartial elections.

Explaining his position, Thomsen said, "It, [Trump's margin of victory over Clinton in Wisconsin], may not be 22,177 [after the requested hand recount]. But I don’t doubt that the president-elect is going to win that."

Who cares what Thomsen thinks or doubts? Thomsen's was a political position, devoid of consideration of citizens' rights and interests in the electoral processes.

The right to a recall in Wisconsin was given a new, extra-statutory standard by a host of self-serving Wisconsin pols, Donald Trump and one Dane County Circuit Judge Valerie Bailey-Rihn: If there is no clear evidence that a hand recount will produce a difference result, there is no need for a hand recount.

Wrote James Rowen in reaction in November 2016:

It is disappointing that the [Election] commission with no third-party representation is signaling premature and self-serving assurance while ruling out the hand recount sought by Stein, and supported by Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.

Worse, it reinforces the partisan cast of a state where the GOP's candidate narrowly won the state's electoral votes, and Wisconsin is run as a one-party state by an autocratic legislature in league with an imperial Governor and State Supreme Court that sacrificed its impartiality when it had a 4-3 conservative majority that has now risen to an even harder-edged 5-2 right tilt.

As noted here, Judge Bailey-Rihn, in upholding the partisan Election Commission decision, said clear and convincing evidence is needed to order a statewide hand recount over the decision of the Commission, without addressing whether voter intent remains a paramount principle underlying Wisconsin election law.

Opined John Nichols commenting on the opposition of Wisconsin pols to the requested recount:

Unfortunately, in an age of hyperpartisan spin and know-nothing media, there is a tendency to see demands for recounts as the burdensome expressions of sore losers. Sometimes they are that. But for those of us who concern ourselves with the functioning of the elections that confer authority on executives and legislators, recounts are understood as fundamental underpinnings of democracy. They only rarely overturn initial results. But even when they simply confirm those results, they give us all greater confidence in systems that can only serve their purpose if citizens see those systems as fair and functional.

The abbreviated, don't-look-too-closely recount was begun. [Wisconsin recount information, governing Wisconsin state statute, and ARTICLE III, Suffrage (voting) text in the Wisconsin Constitution are indicated and explained in updated online Wisconsin public websites, in accordance with Wisconsin's historic open-government commitment and the Wisconsin Idea.]

Feds in 2107: Russia Hacked 21 States

Now comes news in September 2017 that Wisconsin along with 20 other states were specifically targeted by Russian cyber hackers in 2016:

WEC Administrator Michael Haas has informed WEC Chair Mark Thomsen, who directed Commission staff to investigate why election officials were not notified earlier and report to the Commission at its meeting Tuesday.

'This scanning had no impact on Wisconsin’s systems or the election,' Haas said. 'Internet security provided by the state successfully protected our systems. Homeland Security specifically confirmed there was no breach or compromise of our data.'

In 2016, Haas offered public assurances that because Wisconsin's is "the most decentralized election system" in the nation, hence safe, and that cyber-tampering would require "unfettered access" to municipalities throughout the state.

Haas is wrong. To swing a close election in Wisconsin, hackers just need access to a handful of Wisconsin's 1,853 municipalities' "Internet-facing election infrastructure." Decentralization in itself does not protect the integrity of elections.

The whole point of Jill Stein's requested hand recount was to make sure the number of ballots cast for presidential candidates matched what was tabulated in the results. But the Wisconsin Elections Commission's adamant and bizarre position was a hand recount was not needed because they knew the results already.

In retrospect, and in light of the Russia cyber-hack, does the WEC now concede Jill Stein, (and Hillary Clinton's), position that a hand recount was needed for confidence in the integrity of the 2016 electoral results?

Turns out decentralization is not such a great protection from hacking after-all, Haas now acknowledges, contradicting his 2016 position:

The Wisconsin State Journal reports today:

Meanwhile, the state is moving ahead with implementing a new election security plan by early 2018.

The challenges are particularly acute in Wisconsin, Haas said earlier Friday, where elections are not centrally run but instead handled locally by 1,853 municipal clerks. One local security breach where a key password is divulged could cause problems statewide, Haas said.

One thing the state is considering is whether to mandate that local clerks meet minimum security requirements for hardware and software they use, Haas said. 

The next Wisconsin elections will take place in the 2018 Spring Primary election in February.

Below is a reproduction of the Wisconsin Elections Commission's Sept 22, 2017 public announcement of the 2016 Russian cyber-attack.

Wisconsin Notified of Unsuccessful Russian Hacking Attempt

Date: September 22, 2017

MADISON, WI – This afternoon, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security notified the Wisconsin Elections Commission for the first time that “Russian government cyber actors” unsuccessfully targeted the state’s voter registration system in 2016.

WEC Administrator Michael Haas has informed WEC Chair Mark Thomsen, who directed Commission staff to investigate why election officials were not notified earlier and report to the Commission at its meeting Tuesday.

"This scanning had no impact on Wisconsin’s systems or the election," Haas said. "Internet security provided by the state successfully protected our systems. Homeland Security specifically confirmed there was no breach or compromise of our data."

Wisconsin is one of 21 states whose chief election officials were notified Friday by DHS officials that their systems were targeted by Russians, said Haas. DHS did not disclose which other states were notified, but said the states were free to disclose the information.

According to DHS, it appears that Internet-facing election infrastructure in Wisconsin was targeted by Russian government cyber actors. They scanned internet-connected election infrastructure likely seeking specific vulnerabilities such as access to voter registration databases, but the attempt to exploit vulnerabilities was unsuccessful.

Haas said the Commission is seeking more specific information, including when the scanning activity occurred in 2016.

The news that 21 states were targeted was first announced by DHS at a U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on June 21, 2017. Coincidentally, Haas also testified at that hearing and said in response to questions that the Elections Commission had not been notified by DHS and concluded that Wisconsin was not one of the targeted states.

Fitchburg, Wisc Poll Worker Violates Voter Privacy with Letter, Following Voter Obstruction

Fitchburg Star column in November 2016 issue. Column is
written by Michael Leon, a writer and resident living in Fitchburg,
Wisconsin.

Anatomy of Harassment from Pernicious Poll Workers

Update: A reader asked, "What's Ron Johnson's deal?" Ron, The Racist, Johnson's deal is he is feigning a causal interest in this matter, after participating in a ridiculous voter-obstruction incident on Aug. 9. Ron left a message, (a comment), at this site in August, and is now following my work in different periodicals, leaving behind defamatory commentary. Ron really, really is interested in stopping voter fraud, so interested he lies about this voting-rights activist.
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Fitchburg, Wisconsin — Ron Johnson is a veteran Fitchburg poll worker who has long-championed Wisconsin's obstructionist photo voter ID law intended to hinder the disfavored people from casting their preference at the voting booth.

Johnson has numerous like-minded colleagues on the Fitchburg election inspector roster.

Johnson, and three other white poll workers, personally obstructed this writer at the polling station on August 9, as chronicled in subsequent communications by me to the Dane County District Attorney's office and the Wisconsin Elections Commission.

Unfortunately for me, Ron Johnson is an escalating racist as indicated in Johnson's official conduct as a Fitchburg poll worker. Johnson's status as a white and racist poll worker is not frowned upon by Fitchburg City Hall election officials, and complaints of harassment and discrimination are routinely ignored. I can verify these dynamics as a nine-year sworn Fitchburg election inspector.

Now, Johnson has taken to this site, and the Fitchburg Star, (Woodward Communications), to violate this voter's privacy at the polling place in defamatory editorial comment that chronicles this voter's personalized voting experience on August 9, violating my right to cast a ballot privately in Wisconsin, (Wisconsin Elections Commission).

Wisconsin election officials have a duty to administering elections in a fair, impartial manner that ensures voter privacy.

Ron Johnson didn't get that memo about voters' privacy.

In a letter to the Fitchburg Star, Johnson responds to this writer's column, (column reproduced above-right and below), challenging the racial animus in Fitchburg culture and Fitchburg City Hall. In my Star column I specifically cite the "sacrosanct nature of the booth" vis a vis incursions by Fitchburg election officials.

Putting aside the defamations and inaccuracies in Johnson's letter to the editor, Johnson offers his version of the voter-obstruction incident in a step-by-step chronicle that identifies me as a voter, describes my specific and personalized issues I experienced on Aug 9, and concludes with a chronicling of Johnson's attempt in August to comment at this site. (This site does not run defamations by racists in comments.)

To understand this appeal to privacy in this matter, consider scenarios when a voter enters a polling site and experiences an issue such a spoiled ballot, a 30-minte delay in voting, or the use of a disability apparatus. Now, consider Ron Johnson working a poll worker and publishing a personalized narrative of the voter's experience using this voter's name, replete with invective. This conduct violates privacy expectations, and is pernicious activity committed by a Fitchburg election official.

This conduct does, however, casts light on the state of mind and attitudes of some Fitchburg poll workers towards another poll worker and voter who writes disfavored political analyses and commentary in Newxtex, (now ACI Information Group), and client periodicals.

Am meeting with Fitchburg City Attorney next week, though I am pessimistic with respect to outcomes as racial animus appears to the official and unchallenged policy of Fitchburg City Hall.

Stay tuned.

Above is Fitchburg Star column in November 2016 issue. Column is
written by Michael Leon, a writer and resident living in Fitchburg, Wisconsin.

I'm a Fitchburg, Wisconsin Election Inspector, Was Stopped from Voting for 35 Minutes and Harassed

Voter Obstruction and Harassment Has to Stop Now

Update II: White Fitchburg election inspector leaves comment at Mal Contends, corroborating in part allegations below. MC would publish comment, (it is saved), however it is this site's policy not to run the words of racists, as I hate those fuckers.
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Updated - I have voted at Fitchburg Fire Station, Number 2, for some 15 years, working as a sworn election inspector, (contract employee), for some nine years.

This morning I walked-jogged to my polling place to vote.

I walked into the fire station, said 'hi' to the greeter, said hi to Hertis at the Ballots table, hi to Lynette Rasmusson, a retied teacher, friend and neighbor down our street, at the M-Z voting books.

I walk over to the A-L table to state my name and address, as I do in every election.

I gave the Republican Election Inspector on the A-L books my Wisconsin-issued voter-photo ID who proceeded to take about two minutes time, apparently pretending to inspect attributes.

'Get to work, boys. Leon, Michael, Monticello Way, 5767,' I said jokingly.

But something was up. I worked the voting rolls inspecting IDs in before, and it does not take this long to examine an ID.

Election inspectors typically are not adversarial and hostile except maybe to black folks, but I'm waiting for my voting number to get my ballot.

I take my ID and I place it back in my wallet.

'I need to see your ID again, I have to check, ahh, the expiration date," said the Republican.

—You just saw it and inspected my ID. You don't need to see it again, I say.

This guy is screwing with me, with my vote. I'm pissed.

'I need you to state your address, Mike,' using my name.

—You're screwing with me. I gave you my ID, and my address. You know fully well who I am. Where's my [voting] number. I'm voting today.

I can't believe this Republican is screwing with me, with my vote. He has my name and address, and after examining my ID, now he's preventing me from voting.

I'm going to settle this with the election authorities, I say. I'm being denied my right to vote, I said, glancing at Lynette Rasmusson at the M-Z table.

I call up the US Atty's office, the Wisconsin DoJ, the Fitchburg City Clerk, the Dane County DA and then the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC, formerly GAB).

Should have started with Elections Commission, but my guard is down, I was ambushed. Hey, I'm voting; it's social, civic and political.

So, after being on with the Elections Commission for several minutes, I gave her the name of Dale Z., the Republican Chief Election Inspector seated behind and to the right of the voting rolls.

I hold the phone in the air, and she hears the chatter from the A-L table. 'We need your name and address,' says the Republican.

Okay, they are screwing with me still, and I cannot believe it, but I'll try this again with the Elections Commission on. I give my name and address again. This time, the two Republicans and Ron Johnson, (also working the A-L table), all yell, cheer and say, about time.

The Elections Commission says, what was that? Those are the Republican election inspectors, I reply.

It sounded like a gasp, but I don't know.

I call a Fitchburg Alder, Tony Hartman, and the Fitchburg Star and a bunch of local politcos and elected officeholders.

This harassment and voter obstruction has to stop now.

Tony Hartman says he'll talk to Patty and Tracy at City Hall. I'm on with Mike Haas at the Wisconsin Elections Commission, and tell him in no uncertain words, this harassment has to stop.

I call City Hall, the election inspector dismisses my complaint out-of-hand with no investigation.

By not taking my complaint seriously, she was giving tacit approval to the violators and condoning their action.

City Hall doesn't like my writing, doesn't like my sticking up for voters. I'm still on with Haas.


Jackie, my life partner who is in ill health, calls from the living room and said, there is Fitchburg Police squadron stopping at our home, and two armed FPD officers walk up our drive-way and pound at the door.

Jackie is scared is her own home, and she cannot afford stress.

This is voting today, this has to stop. Right now.
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Email to Fitchburg, Wisconsin Common Council members sent Aug. 9

This needs to stop right now.

I had multiple conversations with District Attorney Ismael Ozanne, the GAB's Mike Haas, and State Rep. Robb Kahl's office, among many other parties.

I related this morning's events about being obstructed to vote for 35 minutes, followed by two visits of Fitchburg

Police banging on our home, and upsetting Jackie to tears. Her health is not good, and she need a stress-free environment. I will file a civil rights complaint and a civil suit if personal injury results.

These events are chronicled here.

The voter obstruction and police harassment comes as a partisan tactical voter suppression campaign is clear, and secondly my status as an ethic minority is met with hostility by Republicans including but not limited to three Republican Fitchburg election inspectors and Tracy Oldenburg.

There will be an investigation conducted by the District Attorney's office as well as the Elections Commission, I have been assured.

Prior to these investigations, it is incumbent that we realize Tracy is not capable of addressing complaints, as evinced by her behavior in which she summarily dismissed my complaint with no investigation.

More insidious is the fact Republican election inspectors felt entitled and empowered to engage in this clearly hostile voter obstruction. Tracy Oldenburg is incapable of administering elections and an inquiry should be addressed with an eye towards removing her.

I would ask for a thorough consideration of the facts of harassment against my family and me, and voter obstruction conducted with the assent of Tracy Oldenburg.

Mike Leon