Not only did the investigators not need Voter ID, they relied on more sophisticated techniques, including DNA evidence and... are you ready for it? A John Doe investigation! Not the one looking into Scott Walker's campaign finance shenanigans, although this accused fraudster voted for Walker twice. No, this separate Doe probe was called to look into the vote fraud case.
Even though Voter ID wouldn't have stopped this individual from voting illegally 13 times, Republicans are busy projecting their own flaws, claiming he couldn't have done it at all if their swell Voter ID law were not blocked by the courts. Only problem: He also voted fraudulently in Indiana, which DOES have a Voter ID law. Whoops.
Meanwhile, if the current political and legal battle over the Walker-centric Doe probe is any indication, Republicans shortly will be complaining that this Shorewood supporter of theirs was only chosen for punishment because the Milwaukee County district attorney is a Democrat. Never mind that the Milwaukee DA has charged a handful of others with vote fraud over the years, but be aware of these facts, from a piece in Salon.com:
... the federal judge who invalidated Wisconsin’s new voter ID law in April found no evidence of voter fraud. U.S. District Court Judge Lynn Adelson [sic; it's actually ADELMAN] wrote in his decision:
The evidence at trial established that virtually no voter impersonation occurs in Wisconsin. The defendants could not point to a single instance of known voter impersonation occurring in Wisconsin at any time in the recent past.
The only evidence even relating to voter impersonation that the defendants introduced was the testimony of Bruce Landgraf, an Assistant District Attorney in Milwaukee County. Landgraf testified that in “major elections,” by which he means gubernatorial and presidential elections, his office is asked to investigate about 10 or 12 cases in which a voter arrives at the polls and is told by the poll worker that he or she has already cast a ballot.
However, his office determined that the vast majority of these cases—approximately 10 each election—have innocent explanations, such as a poll worker’s placing an indication that a person has voted next to the wrong name in the poll book.
A dozen or so mostly harmless datakeeping errors, out of more than a million votes cast. Sounds like Judge Adelman got it right. And Asst. D.A. Landgraf should know about vote fraud. Good thing, because he's the official who filed charges in this latest case from Shorewood. Read the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel account of all this below, which somehow neglected to cover the fact that the accused voted for Scott Walker twice and State Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) five times. Then read the Salon.com piece, which does make a point of that -- a big point. (h/t): More coverage over at Democurmudgeon.org, which was among the earliest sources for this news.
