GOP demands IDs of 37,000 in city
City attorney calls new list of bad addresses 'purely political'
By GREG J. BOROWSKI
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel  Last Updated: Oct. 30, 2004

Citing a new list of more than 37,000 questionable addresses, the state Republican Party demanded Saturday that Milwaukee city officials require identification from all of those voters Tuesday.
If the city doesn't, the party says it is prepared to have volunteers challenge each individual - including thousands who might be missing an apartment number on their registration - at the polls.

The move, which dramatically escalates the party's claims of bad addresses and potential fraud, was condemned by Democrats as a last-minute effort to suppress turnout in the city by creating long delays at the polls.

City officials, who already were trying to establish safeguards in response to the party's claim of 5,619 bad addresses, were surprised by the 37,180 number, nearly seven times larger.

"It's not a leap at all to say the potential for voter fraud is high in the city, and the integrity of the entire election, frankly, is at stake," said Rick Graber, state GOP chairman. "The city's records are in horrible shape."

Any inaccurate address, he said, is an opening for someone to cast a fraudulent vote. However, many of the new addresses now cited might be eligible voters who have voted for years without problems.

City Attorney Grant Langley labeled the GOP request "outrageous."

"We have already uncovered hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of addresses on their (original list) that do exist," said Langley, who holds a non-partisan office. "Why should I take their word for the fact this new list is good? I'm out of the politics on this, but this is purely political."
Initial challenge

The initial GOP challenge, which was dismissed 3-0 by the city Election Commission last week, cited thousands of cases where no voter address exists, such as vacant lots and, in one case, a gyros stand.

It was the result of using a computer to compare the city's list of 386,526 registered voters to a U.S. Postal Service list of known addresses.

The same list generated about 13,300 cases where incorrect apartment numbers were listed, and some 18,200 more cases where no apartment number was listed for an existing building. However, the party didn't include any of those in its original challenge, filed three minutes before the 5 p.m. Wednesday deadline.

Legally, neither the city nor the state Elections Board is required to consider any of the newly identified addresses by Tuesday.

In an interview with the Journal Sentinel, Graber acknowledged the party is asking local officials, including the Milwaukee County district attorney's office, to voluntarily take the step as the right thing to do.

Asked why the party was not asking other communities to take the same voluntary precautions and computer check their lists before Tuesday, Graber said the Milwaukee voter list is a "mess" and cause for great alarm.

"You mean why aren't we doing this in Wausau?" he said. "We certainly could."

After a pause, he added: "And perhaps should."

Democrats say the effort is designed to give the impression it will be difficult to vote in Milwaukee, in hopes of giving an advantage to President Bush over Democratic Sen. John Kerry.

"There's a real disturbing pattern of them making these charges in Wisconsin and in Ohio," said George Twigg, state spokesman for the Kerry campaign. "It's disappointing that they're continuing to beat this dead horse when they've already been proven wrong."

Democrats intend to have a full force of lawyers at polling places to protect the rights of voters, not just in the city but throughout the state, he said.
Review of 5,619 names

The new addresses offered Saturday by Republicans muddied an already complicated matter and could slow down attempts under way to institute safeguards on the initial list.

In conjunction with the Milwaukee County district attorney's office, the city attorney's office began reviewing the 5,619 names Friday. It found many cases where an address does not exist but also hundreds where it believes an address does exist.

The Journal Sentinel reviewed 74 of the addresses on the original list and found 68 of those do not exist. Others, though, were likely to be clerical errors.

Citing its expanded list, the GOP argues any address deficiency, such as no apartment number listed, constitutes an invalid registration.

Langley said he is not prepared to try to review more than 37,000 addresses by Monday, which would be necessary in order to be confident any "watch" lists given to poll workers do not include any valid addresses.

"Here we are Saturday night at 5 p.m., and they're going to 37,000 names on me?" Langley said. "There has got to be a deadline for a reason."

Graber said the city or district attorney's office could use the same method and generate its own list in about three hours. However, the same process would yield the same names. Langley is questioning the quality of approach, based on problems already found in the GOP's original list.

Lisa Artison, head of the city Election Commission, said she takes any challenge or claim of fraud seriously.

"We're all very concerned about the timing of this newest development," she said, declining further comment.

Critics said the late maneuver is a transparent effort to generate publicity and cast an unwarranted shadow over city voters, a majority of whom are expected to vote Democratic.

"People certainly can come to their own conclusions," said Martha Love, chair of the Milwaukee County Democratic Party, noting a similar review was not done for Republican areas such as Bayside. "But if it's not voter intimidation or suppression, then what's the point?"

Kevin Kennedy, executive director of the state Elections Board, has been working with the city on the 5,619 addresses to put safeguards in place that would flag questionable addresses.

"The concern the board has is the pall it casts over the process," he said Saturday.

Langley indicated Friday the district attorney's office was reviewing about 500 new voter registrations that appear to be from non-existent addresses.