http://www.jsonline.com/news/metro/oct04/268023.aspNAACP defends its effort to register voters in jailsNon-felons have right to take part in election, but GOP fears fraud
By TOM HELD
theld@journalsentinel.comPosted: Oct. 19, 2004
Volunteers from local NAACP chapters have registered nearly 200 voters in at least two county jails in Wisconsin, encouraging prisoners to vote behind bars.
Roughly 100 prisoners in the Racine County Jail registered Monday to receive absentee ballots, and roughly 75 did the same in the Dane County Jail in late September.
Little to nothing has been done, however, to ensure that the incarcerated voters are not convicted felons. Under state law, those convicted of felonies may not vote until they have served their sentence, including time on probation or parole.
The majority of the prisoners in the county jails are serving misdemeanor sentences or awaiting trial, and a smaller percentage are convicted felons, officials said.
"Many of the people in the jail are eligible voters," said Elise Schaffer, spokeswoman for the Dane County Sheriff's Department. "We're not going to stand in the way of them exercising their right to vote."
Election supervisors in Madison and Racine said they would not conduct background checks on those prisoners seeking absentee ballots or registering to vote. Similarly, sheriffs' officials granted permission for the registration but did not screen the prisoners who participated.
"If this is not being monitored, if people are not closely watching this, people who are not allowed to vote will be given the right to vote," said Rick Graber, chairman of the Republican Party of Wisconsin.
"To the extent that this is happening, with this effort, obviously it violates the law, and it harms the integrity of the elections in this state," he said.
Fears that large numbers of felons would cast ballots through this initiative are unfounded, said Beverly Hicks, president of the Racine branch of the NAACP.
The registration officers from the NAACP explained to prisoners the penalties they would face for falsely signing forms stating that they are eligible voters. The sanctions include fines and more time behind bars.
"I can't imagine anyone wanting to sit up in jail any longer than they have to," Hicks said.
The registration initiative in Wisconsin is part of a larger prisoner voting project encouraged by the NAACP nationally. Similar efforts have been ongoing in roughly 15 to 20 states, said John C. White, the national organization's spokesman.
The registration project is being conducted mostly in local jails that primarily house prisoners awaiting trial or those who are serving sentences for misdemeanors.
"They are being taken off the street for the crime they committed," said Hicks, a retired schoolteacher. "However, their right to vote, I don't see that having anything to do with the crime they committed."
Graber agrees that anyone who remains eligible to vote should do so, but he sees little positive in an effort that he says opens the door for election abuse.
The Dane County Jail houses convicted felons among its mix of roughly 1,025 prisoners, as does the Racine County Jail among its 667.
Sharon Christensen, the deputy city clerk who oversees elections in Madison, said she saw little that her staff could do to prevent felons from receiving and casting a ballot on Nov. 2. Her staff does not conduct background checks on voters, including those strolling up to the polls or those sending a ballot from a jail cell.
"If they fill out the form and they sign it, they are stating they meet the eligibility requirements," Christensen said. "If someone knows different, they could challenge that on election day."
A Journal Sentinel investigation after the 2000 presidential election found that at least 361 felons voted while they were still under state supervision in Milwaukee. Three men were charged with illegal voting after the stories ran, but those charges were later dismissed after prosecutors were unable to prove the three knew it was illegal for felons to vote.
