January 30, 2005

Some Get It, Some Don't

Greg Borowski, my favorite Journal Sentinel reporter right now, offers up an article letting us know where things stand in the Milwaukee voter scandal. He makes an important point about any criminal investigation:

Indeed, the same open system that makes it easy to vote on election day, long a point of pride for the state, makes it difficult to determine later if someone voted twice, voted as someone else or intentionally used a bad address.

In other words, it is one thing to find a crime, another to identify who is responsible for it.

Borowski also notes how little Milwaukee County District Attorney E. Michael McCann does about voter fraud:

Four years ago, after the Journal Sentinel reported that at least 361 felons had voted improperly in the city, McCann charged three people with illegal voting.

One was an attorney from Shorewood, and two were Milwaukee men, both of whom were listed in a newspaper story.

In the end, the charges were dropped because prosecutors could not establish that the three felons knew they were forbidden from voting while they were still on probation or parole.

And nothing came of the other 300-plus cases found.

Eugene Kane makes a hasty generalization about Milwaukee's voting problems. The fallacy being that since he didn't see any voter fraud on Election Day (was he looking?) none happened. He then tosses out this bon mot:

The pleas for drastic election reform in Milwaukee - the end to same-day registration, voter ID cards and other measures - seem more centered on finding ways to discourage citizens from voting, particularly those who exist below society's radar.

In Kanespeak that means critics are racists. We're complaining about Milwaukee's voting problems because we hate blacks and don't want them to vote.

Jim Stingl brushes off the possiblility of anyone committing voter fraud because he "yet to meet one."

Only the best, deepest thinking local columnists grace the pages of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. (Excuse me while I yank my tongue out of my cheek.)

"Fraud or Bumbling, Voter Problems Still Unnerving to Public"

UPDATE: The JS editorial board ignores the biggest story in their city and declares campaign finance reform to the state's #1 issue. Let's hope they get an earful from their new Reader Advisory Committee.