Tuesday, November 30, 2021

In the News - November 2021



Jay Heck discusses redistricting and the state supreme court
November 30, 2021 - Between the Lines with Greg Stensland, WFDL Radio

Jay Heck on the Wisconsin Supreme Court initial decision on redistricting maps
November 30, 2021 - WIZM 92.3 fm / 1410 am, La Crosse Talk PM with Rick Solem

More than a year after Donald Trump's loss, Wisconsin Republicans wage relentless attacks on the state's election commission
November 20, 2021 - Fredreka Schouten, CNN

Tim Cullen: Courts should provide liberty from gerrymandering
November 18, 2021 - Tim Cullen, Guest Column, Wisconsin State Journal

ONLINE EVENT: Factsgiving 101: How to Talk About Wisconsin's Sham Review Over the Holidays
November 18, 2021 - Media Release, Isthmus

Two takes on the dispute over Wisconsin's legislative maps
November 11, 2021 - Jay Heck, Guest, WPR Central Time

Criminal charges against elections officials are a partisan stunt
November 4, 2021 - Jay Heck, Guest Commentary, Wisconsin Examiner

Jay Heck discusses the current redistricting process in Wisconsin as well as the highly questionable allegations made by the Racine County Sherriff about absentee voting
November 3, 2021 - Between the Lines with Greg Stensland, WFDL Radio

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Monday, November 22, 2021

Fractured Wisconsin Redistricting Process Headed to the Wisconsin Supreme Court


Monday - November 22, 2021



Urge Your State Legislators to Sustain Governor's Veto if Vote is Scheduled or Not!
 


On November 18th - last Thursday, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers did exactly what he has long promised to do. He vetoed the unfair, hyper partisan, rigged state legislative and congressional voting maps drawn in secret by majority Republicans in the Wisconsin Legislature and then rammed through on a party-line vote after a single public hearing in which not a single person or organization voiced support for the G.O.P. maps (other than Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and State Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu while hundreds of Wisconsinites spoke or registered against them.
 
Gov. Evers deserves the gratitude of Wisconsinites for stopping in its tracks, the same type of crass, insulting, rough shod redistricting process Wisconsin Republicans employed in 2011, when they executed the most partisan, skewed, and secretive gerrymandering of any state in the nation that year and one of the five most partisan redistricting processes undertaken anywhere in the last 50 years. Then-Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker happily participated in that unprecedented political conspiracy. Gov. Evers emphatically said no to the current redistricting deception and has blocked, for the time being, a repeat of the 2011 assault on democracy and fairness.

Republicans lack a veto-proof majority in both state legislative chamber and it's not clear yet whether they will schedule a futile vote anyway in the Legislature simply to please their base and waste more of our taxpayer dollars and our time in the process. But it is important for all Wisconsinites who favor fair voting maps and want to end partisan gerrymandering in Wisconsin to contact both their State Senator and their State Representative and urge them to vote to sustain the Governor's veto of Senate Bill 621 (Republican state legislative redistricting measure) and Senate Bill 622 (Republican congressional redistricting measure), should those votes, suddenly, occur. A vote against sustaining the Governor's veto is a vote against a fair redistricting process and a vote in favor of the current corrupt status quo. Contact your legislators now.
 
As the redistricting matter moves to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, events will move quickly. The court has already served notice that by November 30th they will issue decisions about what factors they will use to select voting maps for Wisconsin, whether partisanship in the drawing of the maps will be considered and whether or not changes from the 2011 voting maps should be kept to a minimum -- which is what Republican seek after making vast changes (and moving 2.4 million Wisconsinites around) in 2011 to attain the rigged, ultra-partisan, unfair maps that are in place now. These are, obviously, extremely critical considerations. And the court has announced that up to 4 days of oral arguments will be scheduled on redistricting beginning on January 18, 2022. The federal courts have delayed their involvement in the issue for now but could become involved if voting rights issues are raised with the voting maps -- a near certainty.
 
For context, background and more information about redistricting in Wisconsin and CC/WI's view you can review our release on the recent votes in the Wisconsin Legislature.
 
Hear an exchange of views on the current redistricting situation between CC/WI Director Jay Heck and Republican gerrymandering expert and former State Rep. Joe Handrick on Wisconsin Public Radio.

CC/WI Board Chair and former State Senate Majority Leader Tim Cullen had this recent, interesting guest editorial in the Wisconsin state Journal about the intersection of partisan redistricting and compliance with the federal Voting Rights Act.

Regardless of whether or not Robin Vos and Devin LeMahieu schedule votes or not in the Wisconsin Legislature to override Gov. Evers' vetoes of their rigged voting maps, your state legislators need to hear from you that you will not tolerate any attempt to defy the will of the people and vote against sustaining that veto or vote to override itOur letter writing tool is quick and easy for you to use to contact both your State Senator and your State Representative.

We hope that your Thanksgiving is happy and healthy. Thanks for continuing to fight for the survival of democracy and representative government in Wisconsin!
 
Jay Heck
CC/WI Executive Director
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Contact: 
Jay Heck
608/256-2686 (office)
608/512-9363 (cell)

Common Cause in Wisconsin
152 Johnson St, Suite 212
Madison, WI 53703
www.commoncausewisconsin.org

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Monday, November 15, 2021

Speaking up for Truth about Wisconsin Elections at the Holidays


Monday - November 15, 2021


image from Heidi Berton / for NBC News


It has now been more than a year since the 2020 presidential election in Wisconsin. After the mandatory statewide canvass, a recount requested by former President Donald Trump's campaign, and several court decisions -- the result was the same and confirmed -- Joe Biden won Wisconsin by over 20,000 votes. It wasn't even the closest presidential election in Wisconsin in recent history. Both 2000 and 2004 were far closer and 2016 was almost as close. And yet, conspiracy theorists and "die hard" Trump supporters have refused to acknowledge the certified outcome of the election in Wisconsin and continue to try to undermine the results.

Alarmingly, these "false prophets" currently dominate the Republican Party in Wisconsin and are currently engaged in a sham, hyper partisan investigation led by extreme right wing former state supreme court justice Michael Gableman as well as pushing unproven allegations about voting in a Racine County nursing home being pushed by a rogue lieutenant and his boss, the partisan, Trump-supporting Sherriff of Racine County -- that are so outrageous that even the District Attorney of Racine County has refused to support the allegations. And on top of all of that, Republicans in the State Senate have launched their own conspiracy theory "investigation" of the 2020 election. When will it all finally end when will they move on to 2021 and beyond?

As many of you gather with family, friends and neighbors over the Thanksgiving holidays, the political differences of opinion on polarizing subjects such as Trump and the 2020 election can sometimes percolate up into the conversation with friends or loved ones. Or, if it not spoken about it can still be "the elephant in the room" with the possibility of spoiling any holiday gathering.

Our friends at All Voting is Local developed a Factsgiving informational webinar to help you navigate the tricky and even treacherous "waters" of how to talk about the 2020 elections and the continuing drama and false narratives that you may have to encounter in the weeks ahead. We hope this webinar will help you to be able to get through these challenging conversations with loved ones and help you to keep your sanity and your cool! Enjoy! 
 
Jay Heck
CC/WI Executive Director
 
Factsgiving 101: How to talk about WI's sham review over the holidays
Thursday, 11/18, 6:30pm CT
 
It's Thanksgiving dinner and you're gathering for the holidays. But Uncle Rob has some pretty wild theories about the 2020 election and wants everyone to hear them. How do you talk about the danger posed by Wisconsin's sham review of the 2020 election and not let Uncle Rob ruin Thanksgiving dinner? You've come to the right place — RSVP now and join us for a holiday messaging training to help you correct misinformation and speak the truth about the scam investigations into the 2020 election.
 
Register to reserve your spot. Click the registration button below. 
 

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Contact: 
Jay Heck
608/256-2686 (office)
608/512-9363 (cell)

Common Cause in Wisconsin
152 Johnson St, Suite 212
Madison, WI 53703
www.commoncausewisconsin.org

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Tuesday, November 9, 2021

Legislative Audit Bureau Report on 2020 Election Must Be Based on Truth and Accuracy


Tuesday - November 9, 2021




Wisconsin Elections Commission Should Be Permitted to Correct the LAB Report
 
TO: Members of the Wisconsin Joint Legislative Audit Committee

FROM: Jay Heck, Executive Director of Common Cause in Wisconsin

DATE: November 9, 2021

RE: Statement from Common Cause Wisconsin for the public hearing on the Audit Report 21-19: Elections Administration 

Dear Members of the Wisconsin Joint Legislative Audit Committee,

First and foremost, we must not overlook and diminish the very significant fact that, according to experts in Wisconsin and across the nation, the 2020 election here is considered to be among the most securely run and administered in recent state history. It would benefit this committee in proceeding with the handling of the Legislative Audit Bureau (LAB) report to agree on this indisputable point. It is one thing to carefully examine the election procedures that were in place in Wisconsin during a unique and unprecedented public health crisis and that led to several actions that were out of the ordinary when compared to a "normal" election year, pre-COVID. It is another thing altogether, and not at all legitimate or acceptable, to make false allegations and claims about malfeasance and fraud when there is no evidence to back up such reckless charges.

There is always room for improvement and adjustments that can be made to improve election administration and security. These are evolving matters from one election to another and always deserve to be reviewed and updated. Such reviews occur after every election. Election officials, clerks, and poll workers performed extraordinarily well under the unique and extenuating circumstances of the 2020 elections, again, which are considered to be among the most secure and successfully administered elections in recent history. Unfortunately, the rhetoric and irresponsible actions of some partisans have attempted to undermine public confidence in the conduct of the 2020 elections in Wisconsin. It is critical that a review of 2020 be based on truth in order to be able to factually assess the value of the LAB report and the recommendations that have been put forward for public inspection and consideration.

An additional and critical consideration is the process utilized by the LAB in the conduct of the review and release of the report. The process of releasing this report was inconsistent with past LAB procedure with regard to confirmation of the accuracy of the report. The Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) should have been able to review, address and discuss the LAB’s findings directly with the LAB, prior to the public release of the report. If there were discrepancies between the LAB’s findings and WEC response, those differences and corrections should have been noted in the report before the report was publicly released. Until the WEC has had an opportunity to address these discrepancies, the Legislative Audit Bureau Committee must be patient and reserve making any final determination about what changes, if any, should be made to election administration and security in Wisconsin.

Elections in Wisconsin, and elsewhere can always be improved. And there is opportunity to accomplish this constructively and responsibly. But it ought to start from the premise that the 2020 elections in Wisconsin were successful and remarkably well conducted. Not, that they were suspect and fraudulent as some partisans have wrongly and recklessly charged.

Stop looking and portraying the 2020 election as if it failed. It did not. Stop lying about how the election was administered. Stop proposing legislation that doesn’t seek to improve election administration but rather, simply makes it more difficult for many Wisconsinites to participate in our elections. Instead, start from a place that is grounded in truth that the 2020 election was in fact secure and run well. And from that basis in truth, we can seek to improve our election administration and our election clerk performance.

The most important question you should be asking is how can we improve the voting experiences for Wisconsinites? How do we improve voter accessibility? But also, how do we improve poll worker and election clerk trainings? How do we ensure that there is sufficient and accurate voter information and data? How do we protect voter drop box access? How do we make sure elections are adequately funded throughout Wisconsin through the state budget process?

There are a number of elements of the LAB report that need greater follow up and follow through. Common Cause in Wisconsin will comment on these recommendations after WEC’s staff and commissioners are given the opportunity to respond and correct this report. And we respectfully request that this committee also do their due diligence to improve elections by beginning and basing this entire process in truth, rather than in false allegations and unfounded conspiracy theories.

Thank you.

Jay Heck
CC/WI Executive Director
Common Cause Wisconsin

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Contact: 
Jay Heck
608/256-2686 (office)
608/512-9363 (cell)

Common Cause in Wisconsin
152 Johnson St, Suite 212
Madison, WI 53703
www.commoncausewisconsin.org

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Friday, November 5, 2021

Votes in Legislature Next Week: Partisan Republican Voting Maps are as Rigged and Unfair as in 2011


Friday - November 5, 2021

Your State Senator and State Representative Need to Hear from You to Vote No!



Decade-Old Gerrymandered G.O.P Voting Maps Kept Largely Intact by Vos & LeMahieu

 
Wisconsin Republican legislative leaders, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) and State Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostburg) have scheduled votes this week in the Wisconsin Legislature on their redistricting plans for state legislative and congressional districts for the next decade, which were conceived entirely in secret and without any serious public input, and suddenly released without warning on October 20th and given a single public hearing in the Capitol in Madison on October 28th.
 
The vote on the Republican gerrymandered voting maps could occur in the State Senate as soon as Monday, November 8th and in the Assembly later in the week but likely no later than Thursday, November 11th. Therefore, we need to act now!

Hundreds of Wisconsinites and numerous citizen organizations testified against Senate Bill 621 / Assembly Bill 624 and Senate Bill 622 / Assembly Bill 625, the legislation containing the G.O.P. voting maps for state legislative and congressional districts for the next ten years. After nearly nine hours of testimony, not a single person (or organization) testified in support of these undemocratic, unacceptable measures other than Vos and LeMahieu!

The Republican redistricting plans are every bit as unfair and corrupt as they were in 2011 when they rammed through and put into place the most hyper partisan, gerrymandered state legislative and congressional voting maps in the nation that year and one of the five most skewed and rigged gerrymanders in the nation during the past 50 years.

It is absolutely essential for any and every Wisconsinite who cares about fair elections and democracy to weigh in against Senate Bill 621/Assembly Bill 624 and Senate Bill 622/Assembly Bill 625.

For information and background about these measures and how we arrived at this place in Wisconsin, you can review CC/WI's October 28th testimony against these measures

Watch this "debate" moderated by the Marquette University Law School between CC/WI Director Jay Heck and former Republican State Rep. Joe Handrick, a top G.O.P. redistricting consultant which lays out many of the issues surrounding partisan gerrymandering in Wisconsin.

Every member of the Wisconsin Legislature -- Republican and Democratic -- needs to hear from their constituents that these rigged, gerrymandered voting map plans for both state legislative and congressional districts is unfair and unacceptable! It is imperative that you contact both your State Senator and your State Representative and tell them to vote No! Write a letter directly to your legislators now with this quick and easy tool:

We will never give up the fight for fair voting maps and an end to partisan gerrymandering in our state.

On Wisconsin!
 
Jay Heck
Common Cause Wisconsin

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Contact: 
Jay Heck
608/256-2686 (office)
608/512-9363 (cell)

Common Cause in Wisconsin
152 Johnson St, Suite 212
Madison, WI 53703
www.commoncausewisconsin.org

Read More...


Tuesday, November 2, 2021

Ongoing Baseless and Misguided Partisan Attacks on the Integrity of the 2020 Election in Wisconsin Undermine Democracy

Tuesday - November 2, 2021



 
The sensationalized allegations about "possible" voting fraud in a Racine County nursing home and "possible" widespread, statewide fraud caused by the actions of the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) during the 2020 elections made by Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling last Friday are little more than a baseless, hyper partisan attack on legal and approved election procedures made by a highly partisan elected official that only serve to undermine public trust in our election system if they are not repudiated.

Further, the Republican politicians who have rushed to judgment and embraced these questionable allegations and called for resignations of WEC staff and commissioners are highly irresponsible, inflammatory and they only serve to further sow seeds of distrust in democracy and to add fuel to the fire of the conspiracy theories that continue to permeate the state and the nation about the results of the 2020 election.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester), State Senate President Chris Kapenga (R-Delafield), State Sen. Van Wanggaard (R-Racine) and others have prematurely called for the resignation of WEC Administrator Meagan Wolfe, almost simultaneously, with the announcement by Sheriff Schmaling of his unproven allegations. That is unfair and irresponsible in the extreme. Further, Schmaling has made allegations of wrongdoing but offered little or no evidence that the voting "irregularities" were either illegal or substantiated. Further, they failed to make any charges, or to even be in contact with the District Attorney of Racine County.

Schmaling alleged that the WEC violated Wisconsin election law by facilitating "illegal" voting in March of 2020 when all six commissioners -- 3 Republican appointees and 3 Democrats --voted unanimously not to send special voting deputies into nursing homes to assist residents with voting because of an alarming spike in COVID-19 infections in Racine County and elsewhere. 

Vos's own partisan appointment to the WEC, former Republican State Rep. Dean Knudson expressed fierce disagreement with the actions of Schmaling and the call by Vos and other G.O.P. politicians for Wolfe and WEC Commissioners to resign. Commissioner Kundson questioned why Schmaling isn't pursuing charges against anyone in Racine County and with the Racine County District Attorney if he believes "fraud" had occurred and if the commissioners committed "a felony crime," as Schmaling alleged by authorizing the nursing home residents to be able to vote by absentee ballot instead of with Special Deputy Registrars coming into the nursing home during a period of severe public health concern.
 
"Certain public figures in Wisconsin are under intense pressure to find someone to be the fall guy for Trump's loss in 2020 in Wisconsin," Knudson told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "It is the equivalent of losing the playoff football game and six months later still complaining about the bad call by the referee and insisting that they never officiate a game again."
 
"There are a lot of individuals that are under pressure to try to find some explanation other than the obvious one," Knudson added. Asked what that obvious explanation was, Kundson said, "That (Joe) Biden got more votes in Wisconsin than Trump did."
 
The Racine County allegations come in the wake of continuing controversy and confusion that has been ongoing about an investigation into the 2020 election authorized by Vos in August. Vos named former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman to try to discover non-existent "fraud" in Wisconsin during the 2020 election. Gableman has said he believes Donald Trump defeated President Joe Biden in Wisconsin last year, even though two recounts and numerous court decisions confirmed a Biden victory by more than 20,000 votes. Gableman has publicly admitted he knows very little about how elections are or should be conducted in Wisconsin and his legal authority to investigate and to subpoena county election clerks has been called into question.
 
As if the highly questionable allegations in Racine by Schmaling, a Trump supporter, and the botched Gableman effort weren't sufficient to appease former President Donald Trump and his supporters, the Wisconsin Legislative Audit Bureau almost two weeks ago issued its long-anticipated review of the 2020 election that had been authorized by state legislative Republicans. State Sen. Robert Cowles (R-Allouez), who co-chairs the Legislature’s Audit Committee, said he hopes the report leads to bipartisan fixes for the issues the audit identified, but that the state’s elections, overall, are “safe and secure.” 

Even so, that report has fueled G.O.P. calls for wholesale changes to the WEC, which was created solely by Republican votes in the Wisconsin Legislature in 2015. And last week, Trump-supporting Republicans in the State Senate, unhappy that the LAB report didn't uncover and detail the non-existent "fraud" in 2020 that they are still desperately and fruitlessly seeking, announced plans to open yet another fishing expedition to looking yet again into the 2020 election, to be led by State Sen. Kathleen Bernier (R-Chippewa Falls). Apparently, there is no limit to how far Trump sycophants will go to pursue a different outcome to the 2020 presidential election results in Wisconsin, no matter how many times they fall short of changing it.
 
It is one thing to look at and carefully examine the election procedures that were in place in Wisconsin during a unique and unprecedented public health crisis that led to several actions that were out of the ordinary when compared to a "normal" election year, pre-COVID. There is always room for improvement and adjustments that can be made to improve election administration and security. Such reviews occur after every election. Election officials, clerks, and poll workers performed well under the unique and extenuating circumstances of these elections considered to be the most secure and successfully administered elections in recent history.
 
But the unproven Racine County allegations, the highly questionable Gableman "kangaroo court" inquest and now, the State Senate "investigation" are nothing more than hyper partisan political stunts that waste public taxpayer dollars and corrosively undermine the legitimate public trust and confidence that Wisconsinites have had and should continue to have in the conduct of elections in Wisconsin -- all in order to appeal to the vanity of a former President who decisively lost the election in Wisconsin and in the nation -- but who refuses to accept the result.
 
This unseemly and destructive partisan circus needs to end now.

Jay Heck
Common Cause Wisconsin

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Contact: 
Jay Heck
608/256-2686 (office)
608/512-9363 (cell)

Common Cause in Wisconsin
152 Johnson St, Suite 212
Madison, WI 53703
www.commoncausewisconsin.org

Read More...