Holder's "stacked" Redistricting Commission Biased, Gableman's stacked Commission "open to all different kinds of 'evidence' and different people's comments."

I have reached my peak frustration level with reporters and our very quiet Democratic representatives. And no, "Wisconsin deserves better" press releases are not serious responses. 

Just say it, "the Gableman "investigation" is a Trumpian witch-hunt designed as an in-your-face owning of Democratic voters, using their tax dollars, while revving up their base for the midterm elections.  

Partisan Example #1-Eric Holder's not so Partisan Redistricting...Bad? Who's partisan. Is it so hard is it to remember all the phony Republican outrage over Eric Holder's attempts to kill gerrymandering? Vos-Republicans accused Holder of political bias. Totally different from the Gableman debacle? Here's a sample of GOP whining from the Journal Sentinel, October 1, 2020:

Gov. Tony Evers' redistricting commission heard from former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder at its first meeting, as Republicans and Democrats squabbled over whether the panel's work will be tainted by partisanship.

1. "The commission is hardly nonpartisan with (Gov. Scott) Walker recall signers, contributors to political candidates, members of a liberal organization and (a role for) a judge who just endorsed Joe Biden for president," said a statement from Assembly Speaker Robin Vos of Rochester.

2. Andrew Hitt, chairman of the state Republican Party, said having Holder testify made it plain that the commission is stacked for Democrats. “The idea that Governor Evers’ commission is somehow ‘nonpartisan’ is a joke."

Partisan Example #2-Surprise! Gableman's Partisan Election Witch-hunt...Good: Decertifying Election: With Vos's biting "the commission is hardly nonpartisan" still echoing in our heads, here's another Republicans a bit more "open" to "different" biased partisan "comments:" WKOW Capital City Sunday:

There are more than three dozen mentions of Erick Kaardal in the records. Kaardal, a Minnesota lawyer, was referred for possible discipline by a D.C. judge over what the judge considered to be a frivolous that sought to block the 2020 election from being certified.

Rep. David Murphy (R-Greenville) said he disagreed with the notion such close collaboration with Kaardal amounted to a conflict of interest or that it was a sign Gableman hadn't started his investigation with a blank slate. "I don't feel like we're starting from an assumption," Murphy said. "And certainly, as an Assembly committee, I felt totally open to all kinds of evidence and different people's comments."

Members include a former Trump administration official and the head of the Wisconsin Voter Alliance, which unsuccessfully asked the state Supreme Court to throw out the results of Wisconsin's presidential election and force the Legislature to certify the state's presidential electors instead.

Stacked against Biden election? That couldn't be. The team includes:

Andrew Kloster, a former Trump administration official who has falsely claimed the election was stolen from the former president. Kloster is paid $5,000 per month.

Carol Matheis, a California attorney active with the Federalist Society. Matheis is paid $5,000 per month.

Ron Heuer, president of the Wisconsin Voter Alliance. Heuer is an investigator and paid $3,250 a month.

Arkansas attorney Clint Lancaster, who represented a woman who sued Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden's son, for paternity last year. Lancaster is paid $10,000 a month. 

Erick Kaardal in the records. Kaardal, a Minnesota lawyer, was referred for possible discipline by a D.C. judge over what the judge considered to be a frivolous

• Not to mention My Pillow gatherings and GOP campaign parties. Not biased at all, just different "comments." 
• 
  
•  

• 
  
  

  60 Minutes: Gableman, who also ignored our requests for an interview, draws a salary of $11,000 a month. He's made little attempt to be transparent or bipartisan. He revealed his staff only under pressure from the press and Democrats; some were found to have worked in the Trump administration or with stop the steal efforts. His investigation has been so secretive a judge ruled it violated Wisconsin's public records law. This month, Gableman released his interim report - live on cable TV from the state capitol.
  
  Michael Gableman: I believe the legislature ought to take a very hard look at the option of decertification of the 2020 Wisconsin presidential election.

  Vos still receiving Trump pressure? Sure:

• 
  
  

AP: One of those who will at the meeting with Vos on Wednesday is former Menomonee Falls village president Jefferson Davis. He has organized a pair of rallies at the Capitol attended by Tim Ramthun, a Republican candidate for governor and state representative who has introduced resolutions to decertify the vote.

Davis said he and others will be presenting evidence to Vos that shows there were between 250,000 and 300,000 fake ballots cast in the election and that decertification can legally be done.

“Donald Trump won the state of Wisconsin in such a landslide it’s not even funny," Davis said. ”And we will have the evidence.”

Vos-Republican want coercive "power of the purse" to run WI elections, but will block similar coercive Federal funding?

Tell me if I'm mistaken, but isn't this an outside right-wing group telling Wisconsinites how they should run elections? To game the system, constitutional amendments replace regulations. ALEC is back. JSonline:

Seriously, nothing screams "integrity" like the new right-wing group "Center for Election Integrity" privately scheming to bypass the elected governor? 

A possible route around Gov. Tony Evers was revealed during a private meeting on elections hosted by ALEC. Trump’s former White House spokesman Hogan Gidley told attendees that his new Center for Election Integrity, was working with elected officials and business leaders in Wisconsin “to figure out the best path” around Evers, who has said he will block GOP-backed election measures. “We feel as though the governor can’t do anything about it and it will become law,” Gidley said in a recording...require amending the state constitution, a process that takes at least two years because the Legislature has to pass it in two consecutive sessions. 

 As the nation's eyes turn to Wisconsin...

Nowhere is this crusade to subvert the 2020 election result more on display than in Wisconsin. WI State Rep. Tim Ramthun wasn’t surprised by Donald Trump’s call. A few weeks earlier, Trump had left a message and wanted to thank Ramthun for his continued efforts to overturn the 2020 election results/

First, he would pass his resolution to decertify the last presidential election, and then he would help other states follow his lead. “If one state does this, I think others will follow,” he remembers telling Trump.

“You’re my kind of guy,” Trump replied.

Next: Statist Authoritarian Rule over Elections: Welcome to coercive government. Republicans have been penalizing/withdrawing funding for education and two Democratic counties and cities for the last 11 years, so it was just a matter of time before they would target elections. Wait for the breathtaking hypocrisy. First WI GOP wants to use funding as the hammer...: 

Wisconsin Republicans who control the state Legislature want to close out the legislative session by giving themselves the power to take away staff and funding from state agencies deemed to have run afoul of election laws and taking control over guidance that comes from the state Elections Commission. "The Legislature has the power of the purse. It is the legislative branch’s primary check on the other branches of government," bill authors Sen. Duey Stroebel. "Enforcement is the through the power of the purse."

But Republicans are against federal funding being used in the same way. Despite not being constitutional, they want to block federal election requirements: 

Republican-controlled legislative committee would have the power to prevent the governor from distributing federal election funding if the lawmakers did not like the way the state elections agency planned to spend it.

A little subjective? It doesn't stop there:

"This bill ensures the people of Wisconsin, through their representatives, can review, amend, or block any efforts by the executive branch of the federal government to interfere with Wisconsin election administration," LeMahieu and Vos wrote in a memo to colleagues.

"This includes attempts to use coercive federalism— introducing federal requirements as a condition of receiving federal funds — to lure states into adopting new policies at the agency level and bypass the legislative process."

Of course, only one party can do this.

Republicans unabashedly admit they oppose democracy!!!

While Trump is trying to throw out the votes of millions of Americans across the country, Wisconsin Republicans are making it perfectly clear that they are fully on board with that idea, in support of an authoritarian one party Republican government. 

Even after 8 years under Scott Walker and a whole new set of Rube Goldberg-like election rules, it's always something. You don't have to imagine how petty they would like to get, because it's spelled out in the first paragraph of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's story below:

As Republicans pursue a longshot chance of overturning the presidential results in Wisconsin, they’re focused on absentee voters' addresses, the state’s residency requirement and a flash drive that was briefly left in a counting machine.

The article goes on to explain how both the election commission and governor would have to approve throwing out the state election results and then incredibly replace the current electors with only Trump supporters, handing Wisconsin over to Trump. Mind blowing, true, but conservative voters would love to just sit back and let this happen.

Here's what the far right's Rep. Joe Sanfelippo, R-New Berlin, said on Monday:

Sanfelippo lunacy

…raised the prospect of having the state’s electoral votes go to Trump instead of Biden...

“If an investigation shows these actions affected the outcome of the election, we need to either declare this past election null and void and hold a new election or require our Electoral College Delegates to correct the injustice with their votes.” 

Yea, likes that's going to happen.

Ousted "Constitutional textualist" Justice Michael Gableman see's legal language where there is none:

Republicans have raised concerns about instances in which clerks filled in the addresses of witnesses on absentee ballot envelopes. The state Elections Commission told clerks they could add the witness’ address if they were able to determine what it was. 

State law does not explicitly say who must provide the address information. And Republicans on the commission have backed the policy allowing clerks to fill it out.

Former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman contends the witness — not the clerk — is the one who is supposed to fill out the address information. “The one meaningful path that the president would have in Wisconsin would be to challenge the I believe illegal clerks writing in the addresses for the absentee voters’ witnesses,”

Gableman was thankfully booted by Wisconsin voters. But he did prove once and for all how textualism and originalism was nothing more hard core conservative drivel.

The silence from Republican leadership is also a concern. Are Republicans planning to take something to our conservative activist State Supreme Court that will help Trump steal the election? I think the video says it all:

Election Integrity a Republican Illusion exposed by Pandemic!

Integrity of the Election just more Wisconsin Republican Nonsense: Who hasn't heard over and over how concerned Republican are about the integrity of our elections, and the plethora of excuse they throw out every time they kick more people off the voter rolls or put up another convoluted voter roadblock.

Now after 10 Years of GOP Election Oversight, let's pick through rubble. It came to a head with this:

Responding to state measures intended to slow the spread of the deadly COVID-19 virus, federal Judge Conley granted Wisconsin clerks additional time to receive and tally absentee ballots,  Monday, April 13 rather than the scheduled April 7 Election Day. 

Neil Albrecht, director of the Milwaukee Election Commission, said a reversal of the judge's extension would have "tremendous consequence to voters across the state," "Any type of a reversal on that extension ... would further compromise the integrity of this election."

Election Integrity, Rube Goldberg-style, Crumbling Down: Here's what 10 years of GOP "integrity" looks like:

1. In Lodi and Pewaukee, voters were told the system for requesting absentee ballots crashed.

2. In Marshfield, Shorewood and Bristol, voters threw up their hands after spending hours in front of computers trying to request a ballot.

3. In Milwaukee and Green Bay, dozens of couples said one member of their household received a ballot while the other didn’t.

4. Brenda Lewis, a 61-year-old Delafield resident said her local clerk could find no record of her or her husband ever requesting an absentee ballot, even though both of them had.

Remember, Republicans scoffed at Gov. Evers request of a special session to delay the election: 

The special session is over with any action taken by the legislature.

Election Problems required a "Solution," an unfamiliar word to Republicans: "
JSONLINE: An investigation by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the PBS series FRONTLINE and Columbia Journalism Investigations into Wisconsin’s missing ballot crisis reveals a system leaking from all sides, buckling under the weight of a global pandemic and partisan bickering … shows the problems went far beyond postal mailing issues. People from nearly 100 Wisconsin cities and towns responded."

1. Some people received too many ballots. Some received empty envelopes. Some gave up trying to navigate the state’s request system. Others got their ballots after Election Day.

2. Three people — two in Mequon and one in West Allis — said they were mailed duplicate ballots. In Wauwatosa, one couple said they received envelopes with no ballots.

3. In Milwaukee, three would-be voters said they received a form letter from Mayor Tom Barrett thanking them for requesting an absentee ballot — but not the ballot itself.

4. Officials sent ballots to college students to dorms they had been forced to vacate. For some Wisconsin residents wintering in New Mexico and Florida, ballots simply never showed up.

5. Nineteen Wisconsin citizens across eight cities — from New Auburn in the north to Bristol in the south — said they requested absentee ballots only to later be told the system had no record of their applications.

6. In Wisconsin’s decentralized election system, much of the responsibility falls on local clerks, whose staffs are often tiny and not equipped to handle a surge in applications.

7. Most municipal clerks do not have access to WisVote, and must ask another official, such as a county clerk, to manually enter the applicant's information in the database.

8. “This system was designed for a world in which 5% of voters voted by mail, not for a system in which 70% of voters voted by mail,” said Charles Stewart, a political science professor and election expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “So something has to give, and the thing that ends up giving is probably the accuracy of the request for the ballot.”

Trump's not even trying to secure U.S. Elections from Foreign enemies!!!

You may not have heard about it, but the International Grand Committee on Big Data, Privacy, and Democracy is meeting in Canada to do something about things like interfering in other countries elections, like Russia's successful effort to install Trump. But Trump's America isn't interested.

You can thank this Republican Trump appeaser:

The special counsel’s report concluded that the Russian government interfered in the 2016 election “in sweeping and systematic fashion,” leading to the indictment of 34 individuals and three Russian businesses on charges ranging from computer hacking to conspiracy and financial crimes. Those indictments led to seven guilty pleas.

Fox News Alert: Another Trump appeaser, Bret Baier, announced today to Fox viewers just what the Mueller investigation was all about. Really, you're bringing that up now?

Trump not Involved; Election Integrity, Security, and Foreign Interference? Forget it: Here's why I'm posting this; check out this jaw dropping, incredibly irresponsible inaction to save our own representative democracy's electoral system from enemy countries.

The International Grand Committee on Big Data, Privacy, and Democracy, a unique collaboration between lawmakers determined to bring greater accountability to large online platforms, convenes in Ottawa this week ... events from Russia’s online influence campaign ahead of the 2016 U.S. presidential election to the live-streamed massacre at two mosques in Christchurch, have spawned a global “techlash.” 

1. The members ... hail from a number of countries concerned about the effects of information technology on their nations’ social and political life, including Argentina, Canada, Chile, France, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, Singapore, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom. Not one of the 130 U.S. lawmakers asked to participate in today’s grand committee meeting accepted the invitation.

2. Just two weeks ago, the U.S. refused to sign onto the “Christchurch Call,” a non-binding agreement between governments and tech companies to better police the harmful content that too often makes its way online. With the U.S. on the sidelines, other countries have become the de facto regulators of American tech companies, introducing new rules governing online advertising and digital privacy, taking a tough approach to protecting competition in the technology sector, and issuing fines against companies that exploit their market power to entrench their dominance.

3. With many of these countries confronting upcoming elections, their lawmakers gather to question representatives from Facebook, Google, and Twitter on data security, user privacy, and foreign influence campaigns ... an international chorus has declared the end to an era of self-regulation. 
4. While Australia, Canada, the European Union, France, Germany, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom among others have passed new laws regulating online privacy and harmful content, commissioned reports on disinformation and journalism in the digital age, and levied steep fines against tech firms, the United States remains notably absent from this international movement. 

4. As online platforms use journalistic content to attract and engage users, (these) platforms threaten the economic viability of media organizations whose content they circulate ... reports commissioned by Australia’s competition enforcement agency and the British government argue that online platforms pose a serious threat to the provision of news and propose ways to sustain journalism. U.S. lawmakers, meanwhile, have not focused on the industry’s survival in the digital age.

5. A new report by Brookings' Clara Hendrickson and Senior Fellow Bill Galston outline the major political and economic threats posed by today’s largest online platforms ... For years, U.S. lawmakers feared intervening in one of the most dynamic sectors in the economy. However, few can deny the mounting evidence revealing large technology platforms exacerbate political vulnerabilities that threaten a healthy democracy and the tech sector’s concentration slows and stifles innovation. As U.S. lawmakers and enforcers consider regulatory and antitrust action of their own, they can draw on the experience of other democratic governments around the world. The “Big Tech Threats: Making Sense of the International Backlash Against Online Platforms” paper released today, can serve as a guide.

Walker's Tax Hikes; Privatized Election Trouble; Paul Ryan won't stop Armed Stalkers and ex-Boyfriends!

Walker’s Hiden Tax Hikes!!!: Gubernatorial candidate Tony Evers is right, Walker's Wisconsin really hasn’t cut taxes much, he’s just shifted it and passed those increases off to local governments by way of school referendums and wheel taxes. And the zero tax on agriculture and manufacturing lets industry off the hook to educate and train their own eventual workforce. When did that become alright? Who does that? Like Evers said, priorities are truly out of whack. WPR:

 "Right now, Wisconsin priorities are out of whack," Evers said. Evers proposed a $1.4 billion budget for K-12 schools over the 2019-21 biennium. "Taxes have gone up under Scott Walker, all those millions of people who voted for school referenda — they did it because Scott Walker has decided not to fund their public schools." He also pointed out wheel taxes to cover road repair work in response to insufficient state allocations. 

"It’s always about priorities — we found $4.5 billion for Foxconn suddenly out of thin air." Evers said he may consider "shifting" income taxes to do away with policies that benefit high earners, including the manufacturing and agriculture tax credit. 

The Walker ... ad saying Evers may raise the gas tax by $1 a gallon to pay for road work. Evers rebuffed that statement. "It’s ridiculous — who the hell would, frankly," he said of a $1 per gallon gas tax increase.

Capitalism now Owns our Elections: And wouldn't you know it, all that concern about voter fraud and the integrity of our elections, fake!!! We’ve handed our basic right to vote to for-profit private businesses because we cut our taxes so much, that states can't fund or manage our elections and voting machines:

Hacks, Security Gaps And Oligarchs: Private companies play a crucial role in elections, from printing and designing ballots, to manufacturing voting machines, to hosting results websites. The industry exists because the local and state governments who run elections don't have the resources or expertise to maintain all aspects of an election themselves.

1. There's the state that discovered a Russian oligarch now finances the company that hosts its voting data.

2. Then there's the company that manufactures and services voter registration software in eight states that found itself hacked by Russian operatives leading up to the 2016 presidential election.

3. And then there's the largest voting machine company in the country, which initially denied and then admitted it had installed software on its systems considered by experts to be extremely vulnerable to hacking.

Paul Ryan Protects 2nd Amendment right to Kill Women: A bit harsh, I know, but true. What else could explain the shocking facts Ryan has decided to ignore. Nothing else:

A short-term extension of the landmark Violence Against Women Act (was) slipped into a must-pass continuing resolution that kept the government funded until Dec. 7. A task force of Democrats and organizations dedicated to fighting domestic violence and sexual assault has been working on how to improve the existing law.

Speaker Paul Ryan won’t update the law to include a gun control that would save women’s lives, it's that simple:

But the poison pill for Republicans is the so-called "boyfriend loophole," to ensure dating partners under a protective order are prohibited from having a firearm. Currently, that law only applies to couples who are married, live together, or share a child. It also extends the firearm prohibition to people accused of stalking. Finally, it restricts people under temporary restraining orders from possessing a gun. 

The task force offers staggering statistics to back up these requests: Nearly half of women killed by intimate partners are killed by dating partners, and 75 percent of women murdered by intimate partners and 85 percent of women who survived murder attempts were stalked first. A 10-city study cited by the task force found that 20 percent of homicide victims with temporary protective orders were murdered within two days of obtaining the order.

GOP votes to kill Free Election Recounts confirming Election Integrity; don't care about Election Hacking at all.

Anyone think the following seems a bit odd for a party obsessed with voter fraud and clean elections?

1. If Republicans care so much about voter confidence in the integrity of our elections, then why are they trying to block free voter recounts paid for by losing candidates. It's backs up their claims, doesn't it? 

AP: The state Assembly is set to vote on a bill that would make it far more difficult to request election recounts in Wisconsin ... amid anger from some Republicans that Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein was able to request a recount in Wisconsin last year even though she finished a distant fourth ... only candidates who trail the winner by 1 percentage point or less in statewide elections could petition for a recount. Gov. Scott Walker has signaled his support for the measure.

2. If Republicans care so much about voter confidence in the integrity of our elections, then why aren't they worried about having a hacked voting machine system? Seriously, they've never mentioned it, not once. Could there be another reason for their voter ID laws?

Even if most voting machines aren't connected to the Internet, says cybersecurity expert Jeremy Epstein, "they are connected to something that's connected to something that's connected to the Internet."

A recently leaked National Security Agency report on Russian hacking attempts has heightened concerns. According to the report, Russian intelligence services broke into an election software vendor's computer system and used the information it gained to send 122 election officials fake emails infected with malicious software. Bloomberg News reported Tuesday that Russia might have attempted to hack into election systems in up to 39 states.

University of Michigan computer scientist Alex Halderman says it's just the kind of phishing campaign someone would launch if they wanted to manipulate votes. "That's because before every election, the voting machines have to be programmed with the design of the ballots — what are the races, who are the candidates. So as a remote attacker, I can target an election management system, one of these ballot programming computers. If I can infect it with malicious software, I can have that malicious software spread to the individual machines on the memory cards, and then change votes on Election Day.”

Anti-Government Lunacy: The biggest reason for letting the hacking continue, maybe even get worse?

FBI Director James Comey has warned that Russia will try once again to influence U.S. elections, possibly as early as next year. To prepare, the federal government has declared elections to be a part of the nation's critical infrastructure that demands special attention.

But the federal government's focus has state and local election officials, who are very protective of how they do things now, extremely nervous. They're mainly concerned that the federal government will tell them how to run their elections — even down to where polling sites should be located — in the name of security.

While two states — Arizona and Illinois — had their voter registration systems infiltrated last year by Russian hackers, no records were deleted or changed. And no actual votes were affected, despite signs that Russia had scanned election systems in at least 20 states. "The voting process itself was not hacked, manipulated or rigged in any way."

Cowardly Republicans Run from Trump's Russian Connections, not so concerned about Election Integrity after all.

It almost seemed surreal seeing the media turn away from the obvious Trump/Russian connection. Not only were a few of his closest aides connected in some way, but Trump would always defend Russia/Putin by saying how nice it would be if we all got along.

Now we're finding out the CIA knows for sure it was Russian hacking that swayed the election for Trump, and traitorous Republicans who are willing to turn a blind eye to the hacking. They won't even allow any possible investigation. Trump Republicans can now dismantle government for Russia, who wouldn't mind a completely destabilized and corrupt U.S. economy teetering on the brink destruction. Check out the Trump Russia ties.

Scott Walker chimed in with this bizarre and obtuse position over Russian hacking released through Wikileaks, which Walker describes as "information-no matter what form," and Russia's electoral efforts to get Trump elected:

Scott Walker: "If you've got foreign leaders trying to influence by their statement or endorsement in the same way that a foreign leader is trying to provide information - no matter what the form, whether it's outwardly or with an outright endorsement or otherwise - I think people believer decisions should be made by voters her in this country."

...or the sudden change aversion to a congressional investigation into Russian hacking to, as Paul Ryan put it..."exploit the work of our intelligence community for partisan purposes (which) does a grave disservice to those professionals..."

Now this, just before the Electoral College vote....Politico:

An open letter from 10 presidential electors — including Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi’s daughter Christine — requested an intelligence briefing ahead of the Dec. 19 vote of the Electoral College. Hillary Clinton’s top political adviser John Podesta said, 

“The bipartisan electors' letter raises very grave issues involving our national security. Each day that month, our campaign decried the interference of Russia in our campaign and its evident goal of hurting our campaign to aid Donald Trump. Despite our protestations, this matter did not receive the attention it deserved by the media in the campaign. We now know that the CIA has determined Russia's interference in our elections was for the purpose of electing Donald Trump. This should distress every American.”

Check out Esquire Magazines proof of hacking. Of course all of this is news to Trump, who smartly asked why the sudden interest:

Oh, here's why...

For Screaming out Loud: Or this specific outright Russian endorsement made to Reuters News Service,  that was completely ignored by all other media outlets:



I've been collecting screen captures since the beginning:

Arizona and Illinois state election databases Hacked-FBI

The presidential election is taking an unusual and potentially ominous turn:

Yahoo News/Michael Isikoff:  The FBI has uncovered evidence that foreign hackers penetrated two state election databases in recent weeks, prompting the bureau to warn election officials across the country to take new steps to enhance the security of their computer systems, according to federal and state law enforcement officials.

The FBI warning, contained in a “flash” alert from the FBI’s Cyber Division, a copy of which was obtained by Yahoo News, comes amid heightened concerns among U.S. intelligence officials about the possibility of cyberintrusions, potentially by Russian state-sponsored hackers, aimed at disrupting the November elections … the FBI Cyber Division issued a potentially more disturbing warning, titled “Targeting Activity Against State Board of Election Systems.” … the “exfiltration,” or theft, of voter registration data … targeting by suspected foreign hackers of voter registration databases in Arizona and Illinois. 

The Arizona attack was more limited, involving malicious software that was introduced into its voter registration system but no successful exfiltration of data, a state official said.
 “This is a big deal,” said Rich Barger, chief intelligence officer for ThreatConnect. “Two state election boards have been popped, and data has been taken. This certainly should be concerning to the common American voter.” Barger noted that one of the IP addresses listed in the FBI alert has surfaced before in Russian criminal underground hacker forums. He also said the method of attack on one of the state election systems — including the types of tools used by the hackers to scan for vulnerabilities and exploit them — appears to resemble methods used in other suspected Russian state-sponsored cyberattacks.

Experts say the hackers could also have been common cybercriminals hoping to steal personal data on state voters for fraudulent purposes, such as obtaining bogus tax refunds.

Republicans return public confidence, integrity and cronyism back into our elections.

Just amazing. This by the way, this will only force Democrats to play their game of corruption. Nice:

The first announced appointee to the new state ethics commission is the secretary of the Republican Party of Wisconsin, state officials said Tuesday.

Critics said the appointment of Katie McCallum confirms their fear that the commission and its new counterpart, which will oversee elections, will be beholden to legislative leaders and partisan interests.

She was an aide to state Sen. Sheila Harsdorf, R-River Falls, and was a staffer for two former GOP candidates, Kurt Schlicht and Terrence Wall, and worked for the U.S. Department of Education and the Republican National Committee. She also is the daughter-in-law of former Republican Gov. Scott McCallum, according to a 2011 Capital Times report.

Jay Heck, director of Common Cause in Wisconsin, described McCallum’s appointment as “exactly what we feared.” 

We found out yesterday Scott Walker is stacking the UW Board of Regents with donors:

Scott Walker names campaign donor to UW Board of Regents ... a frequent contributor to his campaign fund, donating $9,639.68 since 2010.

Quick to Kill the GAB, Republicans wait till next June to roll out new elections agency.

After Republicans hastily completed their extraordinary session with rapid fire destruction of election oversight and campaign finance laws, they've oddly decided to roll out the new elections agency at the latest possible date; June 2016, 5 months before the election.

The board of former judges losing their jobs at the GAB asked Scott Walker to fire them early, so the new setup had some time to get the process right:

Tasking a new agency with elections oversight months before the 2016 election could lead to headaches for voters, according to the director of the state's elections and ethics agency -- on track to be dismantled by a bill lawmakers passed this week. 

In a newly released memo to Walker, the GAB’s Kevin Kennedy urged Walker to veto the measure. One of the reasons Kennedy gives is that, under the bill, the new elections commission would take effect June 30. The upcoming general election is Nov. 8. It is a presidential election year -- those elections typically attract the most turnout -- and likely to be the first in which the state's voter ID requirement is enforced on a mass scale.

Kennedy writes that the timing "will create significant administrative problems for the conduct of elections in the upcoming presidential election year. The effective date of this bill – roughly five months prior to a major federal/state election – is irresponsible, if not reckless, and could have major impacts on voters across the State of Wisconsin," Kennedy tells Walker in the memo.

Reminds me of the Democratic warnings about WEDC, and we know what happened there. Oh, I forgot, they were just being partisan. 

And since “irresponsible” is their middle name, and Republicans have set the bar so low, their voters won’t find the following comment remotely shocking:

"I think it's a good time to do it," the bill's Assembly sponsor, Rep. Dean Knudson, said last month. 

Of course he does.

Vos' Revenge on Democrat's recusal on Campaign Finance vote?

Revenge and raw bully power now the overriding rule in Walker's Wisconsin. An empty threat maybe?



Democrats make their move...?

Walker ready to "boldly" politicize elections. Like gerrymandering wasn't enough already?

In my post yesterday, "Scott Walker wants something better than a board of impartial judges overseeing elections," the Cap Times wrote about the latest attempt by Scott Walker and the Republican authority to remake the GAB into something more accountable to them, partisan politicians:

Gov. Scott Walker said on Monday he wants the board dismantled and replaced with something new … "something completely new that is truly accountable to the people of the state of Wisconsin," the Associated Press reported.

Jay Heck, director of Common Cause in Wisconsin, said "Walker's call for the elimination of the GAB is simply revenge and retribution for the GAB approving of an investigation of what was clearly a violation of Wisconsin campaign finance law in 2011-12. The elimination or evisceration of the GAB will only raise further questions about whether or not Walker and his campaign were involved in illegal activity. And it will be viewed by citizens as an attempt to simply eliminate any entity that puts adherence to the law above partisan fealty."

But this all started back in December of 2011, nearly one year into Walker term. Republicans were already planning the GAB's demise:

jsonline-Jason Stein: State Rep. Jeff Fitzgerald … said the state might need to replace its elections and ethics agency, saying it has strayed from its nonpartisan mission. Fitzgerald said he saw advantages to going back to the old elections and ethics board … A spokesman for the accountability board said the agency was simply applying the law during controversial political times.

Exactly one year later, in 2012, Republicans were still fine tuning the message:

jsonline-Patrick Marley: The state Senate's incoming leader said Monday he would like to take retired judges off the state's nonpartisan elections and ethics board and replace them with political appointees.Sen. Scott Fitzgerald said he believed the state Government Accountability Board has made decisions favoring Democrats and that putting political appointees on the board would "strike more of a balance." "GAB, it's not working the way it's supposed to," Fitzgerald said. 

Another year later, replacing the GAB came up again, but this time on video, compliments of the propaganda think tank MacIver Institute. Thankfully, when Republicans give interviews to like-minded media lackeys, the filter comes off and they spill their guts. They do know everybody else can see and hear this stuff, right?

This is what I wrote back in January 2, 2013:

Thanks to the farcical, and radically conservative "think tank" MacIver Institute, we have this look inside the thinking behind our winner take all party of failed ideas, from Sen. Scott Fitzgerald. I've added corrections in the video when needed:

In  2012, Rachel Maddow put together this nicely researched look back at how the GAB began in Wisconsin, and the Republicans attempts to take it all back:



Check out this fine article in the New Yorker.

Partisan Republican Electoral Decisions to add extra layer of "Integrity?"

“So if we can create a system that has partisan makeup where decisions can be made, of course I'm open to that.” - Rep. Robin Vos

Is this the most amazing comment...confession? The real, authoritarian, big government Republican Party is now out there for everyone to see. Let's find out if "small government," freedom and liberty loving conservative voters will stand by their principles, or grovel at the feet of their all controlling leaders. From WPR audio:

What's next after Voter ID? Skies the limit if Kansas Sec. of State Kris Kobach has his way...

Voting in Republican dominated states is intentionally becoming more difficult and inconvenient.

Some have suggested a constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right to vote with few restriction. That would take control out of the hands of a few very creative and repressive state governments.

The best argument against state control of elections? Secretary of State Kris Kobach. Rachel Maddow put together the most amazing timeline of voter suppression and partisan electioneering you'll probably ever see...until at least next year.

This proves Republicans will do anything to game the system, no matter how it looks, knowing their base of voters won't do a thing about it. After all, they're fuming over Benghazi, school lunches and Obama's presidential power grab:

My God!!! She's Back, Waukesha's walking Disaster Kathy Nicholaus to oversee their upcoming Election Again!

Nothings ever too bizarre or completely irresponsible for conservative stronghold Waukesha. Is there no penalty for screwing up past elections? 

Remember this:

WISN: Former Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus drew statewide criticism for failing to include votes from Brookfield in a 2011 supreme court race that resulted in a recount.

Well, she was asked back by one crazy SOB, Republican Waukesha Supervisor Joe Banske:

Kathy Nickolaus has found herself in a new position as clerk-treasurer for the city … she is in charge of another election.

According to Banske:

"There is no question in my mind that Kathy has the skill set needed to execute a flawless election here in the town of Waukesha.”

And get this, Nicholaus will have an up close chance to watch the results of her own race for County Board. For someone in a party that hates government so much, she sure loves the benefits doled out to her by taxpayers:

The clerk-treasurer position is interim and ends May 1. Meanwhile, Nickolaus is also running for Waukesha County Board of Supervisor in the 2nd District. She will find out if she wins that seat April 1.

From WISN TV:

Walker to Discipline Dane County Voters for Voting out his Judge Appointment.

Scott Walker inadvertently trashed voters for picking a judge they liked more than his appointee.

You know Scott, that's why we have elections.

WSJ: Walker told reporters it was "unfortunate" that Dane County Circuit Judge Rebecca St. John lost Tuesday's election (to) attorney Rhonda Lanford, who used the Walker connection to attack St. John during the campaign. Walker said, "Unfortunately I think that politics has trumped that."

The Republican governor said he may just allow judicial positions in heavily Democratic Dane County to remain vacant until there's an election. "In the future it probably doesn't make a lot of sense to try and go through that appointment process and make someone who's a good judge — or a good lawyer — be in a position like that," Walker said. "It just doesn't make any sense to drag people through that."

Under state law, judicial appointees must run to retain their seats in the following spring election.

Could someone tell Walker how elections work. Conversely, you could say Justice Roggensack won because of her support of Walker, but that's okay. Channel 3000:



Revenge by this petty dictator is also being doled out in predominantly Democratic Milwaukee as well, as explained by Police Chief Ed Flynn:

WISN: Gov. Scott Walker has proposed lifting the residency rules statewide in his budget. Chief Ed Flynn said the measure has nothing to do with the budget and everything to do with the last election.

"This has nothing to do with state budget. It is not a budgetary issue. It's a local governance issue. There is no compelling state interest at stake. It's foolish to impose this on," Flynn said. "There are other ways to pay back the mayor for having the temerity to run for governor. You don't have to attack the viability of your central city."

Corporation force Employees to vote their way!

After just blogging about an Ohio coal mine owner requiring his employees to donate money to Republican campaigns, it looks like this new style of electioneering is catching on. While required union dues is trashed by the right wing, they’re just fine with private corporations blackmailing employees.

I'm hoping this is a violation of election law, but who knows. In the mean time, employer threats to employees based on who might win an election, doesn't seem to violate any existing laws.

Check out the latest new conservative threat to democracy:

Think Progress: The CEO of a massive timeshare company sent an email about the upcoming election to his employees yesterday, threatening to fire some of them if President Obama wins re-election.

David Siegel, who owns Florida-based Westgate Resorts, sent an email to all his employees yesterday to discuss the upcoming election.

To All My Valued Employees,

As most of you know our company, Westgate Resorts, has continued to succeed in spite of a very dismal economy. There is no question that the economy has changed for the worse and we have not seen any improvement over the past four years. In spite of all of the challenges we have faced, the good news is this: The economy doesn’t currently pose a threat to your job. What does threaten your job however, is another 4 years of the same Presidential administration. Of course, as your employer, I can’t tell you whom to vote for … However, let me share a few facts that might help you decide what is in your best interest.  If any new taxes are levied on me, or my company, as our current President plans, I will have no choice but to reduce the size of this company. Rather than grow this company I will be forced to cut back. This means fewer jobs, less benefits and certainly less opportunity for everyone.

So, when you make your decision to vote, ask yourself, which candidate understands the economics of business ownership and who doesn’t? Whose policies will endanger your job? Answer those questions and you should know who might be the one capable of protecting and saving your job. While the media wants to tell you to believe the “1 percenters” are bad, I’m telling you they are not. 

Siegel’s action don’t for one minute make his fellow “1 percenters” look bad…?This is only the beginning of corporate ownership and slavery of the human commodity. 

Sykes Blows it again, with voting Conspiracies at Dane County Sheriffs Department.

Talk host Charlie Sykes must be happy he got the mileage he wanted out of casting doubt over our electoral process when he took a cheap shot at the Dane County Sheriff's Department. Sykes conspiracy theory accused the sheriff's department of devising a plot to game the election, believe it or not.

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.