Elections Commission right-wingers and Judge Malloy don't need the law to purge voter rolls, just blind ideology!

Upfront with Adrienne Pedersen nailed it again, when tough questioning and follow-ups finally gave Wisconsinites a very clear picture of just how bad Republicans Sen. Scott Fitzgerald and Rep. Robin Vos politicized the elections commission.

The state went from the nonpartisan Government Accountability Board to an elections commission guided, and poisoned, by right wing politics. Upfront featured...

Wisconsin Elections Commissioners Ann Jacobs and Bob Spindell debate a case that could force thousands off state voter rolls.

Point 1: Republican appointees are usually partisan right wing know-it-alls and bullies, like business man and long time commissioner Bob Spindell, who believes his opinion is fact.

Point 2: Democrats are always required to have legal experts, scientists and other nonpartisan researchers who can't mindlessly make things up to prove their case. Case in point; Democratic commissioner Ann Jacobs is an attorney, who has to back up every one of her statements with the law.

In the first clip, Ann Jacobs blows up the whole notion that the upcoming elections is in some way threatened by unpurged voter rolls. (Note, the video of this important debate was already disappearing from Upfront's web page, so I hope preserving it here will inform conservative voters how loose and manipulative many of their Republicans representatives are). :

Attorney Ann Jacobs: "What he is saying is somebody is going to go commit a felony in their own name by voting at an address. That does not get extra votes. That doesn't change the outcome of the presidential election. We are talking about registered voters who legitimately registered to vote, who will stay on the roles, and if they have moved, they will be able to change it. If they have not, they will be able to walk in and vote." 
(From the transcript)

And the business man Bob Spindell's Republican response...you'll love his blunt admission:

MR. SPINDELL: I would like to answer a question ... There is also no evidence that there is no fraud going on. I think having 200,000 extra people on the rolls, which is a Democratic ploy almost everywhere-the Dems like lots of people on the rolls, the Republicans like to have th these cleaned up.  

Here's part 2, that was already removed from Upfront, so I had to record the DVRed segment with my phone. Jacobs reveals how Judge Paul Malloy went well beyond his decision to purge voter rolls, by targeting specific election commissioners for voting the wrong way...at least according to him, setting up a dangerous and unconstitutional precedent:

Judge Malloy’s order, which includes a $250-per-day fine for the three commissioners who voted against the purge...

 Jacobs offered this shocking possibility...

"Let's talk about the idea that a circuit court judge has held commissioners of a state body individually, not the commission, in contempt because they voted the wrong way. And what it would essentially do is allow any circuit court judge across the state to force votes that he or she individually want and do so by threatening penalties against individual commissioners. And I think that's a shocking usurpation of the commissions, commissioners, all sorts of government entities." 

More Evidence of Voter Fraud Nonsense: Spindell also added this:

"There is evidence there is fraud. A detective of the Milwaukee Police Department Mike Sandvick did a written study on that years ago."  

A few very odd things about that...

(In 2008) Det. Mike Sandvick was primarily responsible for a police report that recommended voters show photo identification to prevent vote fraud. The 67-page report was released in February 2008, when Flynn was still new on the job. It was labeled as an official police report but was unsigned. Flynn said nobody on his command staff authorized its release or endorsed its policy recommendations. Republicans quickly seized on the report to press their case for requiring photo identification.

But according to the an extensive Brennan Center study:

After the 2004 election, initial media accounts featured front-page allegations of widespread fraud in Wisconsin.[40] On February 26, 2008, the Milwaukee Police Department released a report on that election, with what appears to be a painstaking investigation of the facts, and policy recommendations offered with less care and disavowed by the Milwaukee Police Chief.[41] The department's careful factual investigation primarily revealed administrative mistakes and, occasionally, negligence.[42] It showed that much of what had originally been identified as potential fraud was in fact due to clerical error.[43] It also uncovered several votes by potentially ineligible individuals, including some who were allegedly nonresidents, and some who had allegedly been rendered ineligible due to convictions.[44] The report revealed only one potential vote that might have involved in-person impersonation fraud, with no documentation verifying that the vote in question was actually cast.[45]

Public Confidence in Wisconsin's Elections takes a Big Hit!!! Walker Cuts Commission Oversight.

A real head scratcher: Walker and his band of plundering Republican pirates are doing away with state voter recounts, paid for by candidates that want one, when elections aren't close enough. Never mind that it's a free test of our electoral system, which should restore public confidence. Seems like a win win for all of us. 

So now it looks like the Republican mantra to “restore public confidence and integrity in our elections” is just so much bullshit, again.

…staffing levels at the Wisconsin Elections Commission (may be cut) by 19 percent due to a loss of federal funds…

…the Elections Commission says the jobs are needed to ensure elections run smoothly in the state.

Republican tax cut zealotry has once again backed the state into a corner, with no ability to adjust to changing times. It's not like the state is debt free either.  

So are we restoring confidence in our elections or finally confirming GOP voter suppression? Kind of obvious isn’t it:

Gov. Scott Walker's recommendation to cut six positions at the agency that oversees elections in the state … The commission and local election clerks are urging the Legislature not to go along with Walker's proposed cut. The governor argues the commission can handle its workload without the positions.

Elections Ethics Commissioner Resigns over "overbearing nit-picking...(that will) erode staff morale...perhaps that is the goal."

Wisconsin's new election commission looked like it was operating well when it okay the Jill Stein recount. I was wrong. Madison Newspapers:

State ethics commissioner Robert Kinney, a state reserve judge, announced his resignation Monday from the new watchdog agency, saying it operates too secretly and that some commissioners aren't committed to aggressively enforcing ethics and campaign finance laws.

The scathing statement depicts the new commission, created by Republican lawmakers and Gov. Scott Walker last year to replace the Government Accountability Board, as riven by infighting among commissioners ... lacking commitment to its core mission: acting as the state watchdog of elected officials by enforcing ethics, campaign finance and lobbying laws.

"There exists among several of the commissioners an observable lack of commitment to the underlying purposes of the agency," Kinney said in the statement. “On top of this, staff are confronted with overbearing nit-picking at virtually every meeting. Over time (if it hasn’t already happened) this disrespectful treatment will erode staff morale and we will lose these talented people. Perhaps that is the goal."

As a new agency, we were required to articulate a mission statement. The staff of the Commission hearkened back to Wisconsin’s reputation when it proposed the following as our mission statement: 

"The mission of the Ethics Commission is to enhance representative democracy by furthering Wisconsin’s tradition of clean and open government through the administration of Wisconsin’s campaign finance, lobbying, and ethics laws, and through dissemination of information to the public.”

At the October 10, 2016 public meeting of the Commission, incredibly, three members – one-half of the Commission’s membership – voted to strike from the mission statement the aspirational language, 'furthering Wisconsin’s tradition of clean and open government.' The handwriting was on the wall. When charges of financial or ethical improprieties are leveled, or allegations of quid pro quo corruption are made, they must be thoroughly and timely investigated, and, if warranted, aggressively prosecuted. Sadly, it appears we have created a system which almost guarantees that this will not occur. It would be an enormous injustice to the People of Wisconsin and to the success of our government in serving them if this agency is relegated to shuffling papers."