GOP asks state to remove 5,619 from Milwaukee voter rolls

Associated Press    29 October 2004

MADISON, Wis. - The state GOP asked the Wisconsin Elections Board on Friday to remove the names of 5,619 people registered to vote in Milwaukee, saying the addresses listed with city officials are fictitious and allowing them to vote would amount to fraud.

Milwaukee elections officials earlier this week voted 3-0 to reject a similar complaint from the Republican Party of Wisconsin seeking to eliminate the 5,619 people from voter registration lists.

The GOP complaint filed Friday asked the board for a hearing before Tuesday's election to review the city's decision.

Board attorney George Dunst said there was not enough time to convene the board for such a hearing. But he said Elections Board executive director Kevin Kennedy had already been working with the city and GOP to resolve the issue before the complaint was filed.

The GOP claims the addresses of the city's more than 300,000 registered voters were run through tracking software used by the U.S. Postal Service. It claims 5,619 addresses came back as invalid.

The GOP said it visited more than 30 of the addresses and took pictures showing vacant lots, a gyro stand, a park and spots between two houses where the addresses should have been.