The Sheriff's Department in one of Wisconsin's most heavily Democratic counties has begun handing out absentee ballots to inmates and deputies are being told not to verify the inmate's felony status before they are handed the ballot. "In my opinion," wrote one Dane County Sheriff's deputy, "this is causing us to be complicit in the crime." The deputy forwarded the instruction from a lieutenant telling staff that "It is going to be up to their polling locations to research whether they are allowed to vote based on criminal record, not the DCSO (Dane County Sheriff's Office.)"
And that's true. I talked with Sheriff Mahoney and he explained that it's not the the Sheriffs department's responsibility to check their status, unless they already know those in custody are under supervision, probation or parole, for a felony. Or for that matter serving a felony. Otherwise, the normal process of absentee voting is allowed. People in custody do not lose the right to vote. This same attack took place under Sheriff Gary Hamblin's watch as well. There's more of this cooked up outrage:
Here is a portion of what the deputy wrote (I am withholding his name for obvious reasons:
I am a Dane County Deputy Sheriff. Recently Deputies and jail staff at the Dane County Jail were instructed to disregard inmates’ felony statuses when they requested voter absentee ballots. We were also reminded to give them ink pens to allow the vote to go through. In my opinion, this is causing us to be complicit in the crime. But that’s okay in Dane County, where even the inmates support the democrats in large numbers. Additionally, verifying that an inmate is a felon would take seconds. There is no logical reason that I can find to support the following instructions.
It sounds like someone doesn't like the long standing rules, or doesn't understand them. Thanks to America United/ Progress2day for helping straighten out the record.
Just to be clear, in Wisconsin a person who has a prior felony conviction can still vote provided they have completed their probation or parole.
ReplyDeleteIn some states, mainly the south, they are banned for life, but not here, not yet.
The Deputy who wrote that letter is a butt.