Elections in Wisconsin are administered by local clerks under the guidance of the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board (GAB). The GAB recently posted a memo on its website urging local election officials to exercise "Caution Against Reliance on Third-Party Election Information."
The memo mentions only one group by name - a shadowy group called We’re Watching Wisconsin Elections. That organization claims to be "a group of unaffiliated citizens following issues affecting Wisconsin Elections", but a quick trip through their web site shows them to be nothing more than a right-wing "election bully" training organization.
A little more digging identifies the most active spokesperson for the group, one Mary Ann Hanson, a member of the Republican Party of Waukesha County and the recording secretary for the Republican Women Of Waukesha County Executive Committee. So far, everyone I've identified as having a connection to this group also has a connection to the Republican Party.
To give you an idea of the caliber of people who belong to the Republican Women Of Waukesha County Executive Committee, their Immediate Past President is none other than Kathy Nickolaus, the Waukesha County Clerk who saved Supreme Court Justice David Prosser's bacon by discovering 14,000 additional Waukesha County votes two days after the April, 2011 election for Supreme Court.
Here is what the GAB has to say about this group, with my emphasis added:
Several election officials have informed the Government Accountability Board of unauthorized third-party information such as “reference guides” on websites purporting to describe the required procedures for election officials. For example, the “We’re Watching Wisconsin Elections” group has recently published four reference guides for observers to use that contained numerous significant and factual errors. We advise that you and your election inspectors should NOT accept these guides as accurate or authoritative statements of Wisconsin election administration law.
They go on to remind the local officials of their right and responsibility to stand up to the bullies:
1. Local election officials should rely only on the Wisconsin Statutes and G.A.B.’s authorized publications and official communications (e.g., Photo ID Law Updates) for election procedures.
2. If an observer refers to their information as the alternative document, kindly refer them to the Government Accountability Board’s manuals available on our website (http://gab.wi.gov)
3. The chief election inspector retains the right to preserve order in the polling place. If an observer is argumentative or disruptive, they may be ordered to leave the polling place. If a disorderly observer refuses to comply with the chief election inspector’s directive, the chief inspector should, seek assistance from law enforcement.
Here is one example of incorrect and misleading information being disseminated by this group dedicated to engaging in election-day voter suppression. From the "We’re Watching Wisconsin Elections" poll-watcher training manual:
If the voter is already registered, the poll worker will ask them to produce one of the following: a current and valid Wis. Driver’s License; Wis. ID; an unexpired receipt for one of these two IDs; a US Military ID; a US Passport; a Certificate of US Naturalization; an Indian Tribe ID; a state college or university ID whose expiration date is two years from the date of issuance with a fee receipt dated not earlier than nine months prior to the election.
The following is from the GAB's faq on the new voter-id law. I have highlighted the portions that are in conflict with or missing from the information being distributed by "We’re Watching Wisconsin Elections":
What IDs are acceptable?
A Wisconsin DoT-issued driver license.
A Wisconsin DoT-issued identification card.
An identification card issued by a U.S. uniformed service.
A U.S. passport.
(Identifications above must be unexpired, or if expired, have expired after the date of the most recent general election.)
A certificate of naturalization that was issued not earlier than two years before the date of an election at which it is presented.
An unexpired driving receipt issued by Wisconsin DoT.
An unexpired identification card receipt issued by Wisconsin DoT.
An identification card issued by a federally recognized Indian tribe in Wisconsin.
An unexpired identification card issued by a Wisconsin-accredited university or college that contains the following:
-- Date of Issuance
-- Signature of Student
-- Expiration date not later than two years after Date of Issuance
There is nothing on the GAB site about students with a school id needing to show a "fee receipt dated not earlier than nine months prior to the election" for identification at the polls. (But that can be used as part of the proof of residence when REGISTERING to vote.)
The encouragement of intimidation tactics is all over the "We’re Watching Wisconsin Elections" web site. Those tactics and the deliberate distribution of false or misleading information about election rules are not just unethical behavior, they're un-American.
Tue Aug 02, 2011 at 11:50 AM CDT: For more about voter intimidation and suppression targeted at African American communities in Milwaukee, see noise of rain's diary:
http://www.dailykos.com/...
For more about Republican dirty tricks in the Wisconsin recall elections, see stcroix cheesehead's diary (I also link to this in my tip jar):
http://www.dailykos.com/...
GAB has just issued another warning, this time about the absentee ballot issue (documented by stcroix cheesehead) and about robocalls with incorrect election dates. This is unprecedented strong language from the GAB. They are kicking ass and taking names...finally.