GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY BOARD
State of Wisconsin
Statement on Recall Petition Falsification
Date: December 21, 2011
MADISON, WI The Government Accountability Board issued the following statement by Director and General Counsel Kevin Kennedy regarding reports that a group called Mines for Wisconsin is advising recall opponents to sign the name "Adolf Hitler" on petitions as a protest:
It is against the law to intentionally falsify a name on a recall petition. If the fliers encouraging people to falsify signatures are genuine, this group may be breaking the law, as would anyone who acts on this blatant attempt to undermine the integrity of the electoral process.
The Government Accountability Board has referred this matter to the Milwaukee County District Attorney's office for investigation.
It is a violation of Wisconsin Statutes 12.13(3)(a) to "Falsify any information in respect to or fraudulently deface or destroy a recall petition". Violation is a Class I felony, punishable by up to 3½ years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine. (my bold)
Who is "Mines for Wisconsin", and how did they get the attention of the GAB? More below the cheese squiggle.
It's about (expletive) time.
Several blogs from Wisconsin have reported that a group called "Mines for Wisconsin" has been advising people to sign the recall petition as Adolf Hitler. See for example "Christian" group upgrades from book-burning to dyslexic fraud advocacy, who shows a picture of a flyer showing up on cars:
ADOLPH HITLER SUPPORTS RECALL OF GOVERNOR SCOTT WALKER
"Mines for Wisconsin" encourage you to oppose the Scott Walker recall petition by signing "Adolf Hitler, 666 Hell Street (your city)"
WHY? The recall people don't want thousands of high paying jobs in the mining industry in northern Wisconsin. The president of "MFW" used to work for Kaiser Steel at an open pit mine. The area around the mine was not environmentally affected.
By signing Hilter's name you are sending a message to the recall people who oppose jobs for Wisconsin residents. Many of these potential jobs would be union positions.
It is not illegal to sign "Adolf Hitler" on a petition. Hitler was willing to destroy Germany in order to get his ideals in place. This is similar to what the recall people are doing in Wisconsin.
(Hilter. Who's he, and how'd he get into this conversation?)
Better yet, who is "Mines for Wisconsin"? The bottom of the flyer states that their address is 2634 W. Vliet St, Milwaukee, with a phone number of 414-344-7478 (Ask for Bob or Bill).
And who do you get when you do a reverse phone number lookup on this number and address? The Christian Civil Liberties Union.
Who?
Well, the Christian Civil Liberties Union has been in the news before. They've got their own page at Right Wing Watch. One Robert Braun ("head of the CCLU" - is this the "Bob" that one should ask for?) filed a lawsuit for $120,000 alleging that a library book about teh gays caused him emotional distress - unless he was allowed to burn it.
Really, you can't make this sh*t up.
But now, apparently, "Bob and Bill" at the Christian Civil Liberties Union have gotten the attention of Wisconsin's Government Accountability Board. And the Milwaukee County District Attorney, for violating Wisconsin's statutes on Election Fraud. A Class I felony.
With any luck, they will not be able to vote in our upcoming recall election against Scott Walker, along with anyone else who signed as Adolf Hilter (or Hitler).
Update - Must have done my tags search improperly before I published. VA Classical Liberal did a diary on the bookburning fiasco on June 8, 2009. Great reading at Wanna-be Book Burners in Wisconsin.
Update #2 @ 4:52 pm - the Wisconsin State Journal just published an article on this:
Group referred to DA's office for encouraging Hitler signatures on petitions
Wow - the media is doing their job, a day or so after bloggers and tweeters. Well, they're not saying anything about the CCLU yet.