Preliminary Findings of Joint
Task Force Investigating Possible Election Fraud
May 10, 2005
A. Background
On January 26, 2005, the Milwaukee Police
Department, Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office, Federal Bureau
of Investigation, and the United States Attorney’s Office formed a task
force to investigate alleged voting irregularities during the November
2004 elections. The purpose of the task force was to determine whether
evidence of criminal fraud existed in the irregularities and, if
evidence of fraud was found, to pursue criminal prosecutions. A
memorandum signed by the head of each of the agencies stated, “This
task force is committed to conducting its work in a thorough,
non-partisan manner.” The memorandum also indicated that federal
authorities would not be involved in any evaluations of election
procedures outside of potential criminal violations.
Since the task force began its work, it has received
further investigative assistance from the United States Postal
Inspection Service and the Social Security Administration - Office of
Inspector General. The task force has also received assistance from
Milwaukee City Attorney Grant Langley and his staff. As explained
below, the task force work to date has focused on an examination of
original records, primarily because data base information has proven
unreliable and may not otherwise be admissible in court. This has
involved the review of thousands of registration cards and the
information contained on such cards. As a result, the task force,
particularly members of the Milwaukee Police Department, has expended
well over 1,000 work hours. The work has been slow, painstaking and is
far from complete. Still, the task force commends the Milwaukee Police
Department for committing these resources and particularly notes the
investigative work conducted by Detective Michael Sandvick and Officers
Neil Saxton and Michael Perez. We also
specifically note the work of Investigator Aaron Weiss of the Milwaukee
County District Attorney’s Office.
B. Summary of Findings
Based on the investigation to date, the task force
has found widespread record keeping failures and separate areas of
voter fraud. These findings impact each other. Simply put: it is hard
to prove a bank embezzlement if the bank cannot tell how much money was
there in the first place. Without accurate records, the task force will
have difficulty proving criminal conduct beyond a reasonable doubt in a
court of law.
With that caveat, the task force has made the
following specific determinations based on evidence examined to date:
1. The task force has developed evidence of more
than 100 individual instances of suspected double-voting, voting in
names of persons who likely did not vote, and/or voting in names
believed to be fake. Those investigations continue.
2. In addition, the task force has determined that
more than 200 felons voted when they were not eligible to do so. In
order to establish criminal cases, the government must establish
willful violations in individual instances.
3. Also, the task force has found that persons who
had been paid to register voters as “deputy registrars” falsely listed
approximately 65 names in order to receive compensation for the
registrations. The evidence does not indicate that these particular
false registrations were later used to cast votes.
4. The number of votes counted from the City of
Milwaukee exceeds the number of persons recorded as voting by more than
4,500.
C. Findings Related to Fraud
Phantom voter identities/addresses/votes. The
task force has individually reviewed hundreds of names and addresses
associated with the various data bases suggesting that thousands of
people registered and voted using suspect names and/or addresses. To
date, the investigation has concentrated on the 70,000+ same-day
registrations. To date, we have found that a large majority of the
reported errors were the result of data entry errors, such as street
address numbers being transposed. However, the investigation has found
more than 100 instances where votes were cast in a manner suggesting
fraud. These include:
1. Persons with the same name and date of birth
recorded as voting more than once.
2. Persons who live outside Milwaukee, but who used
non-existent City addresses to register and vote in the City.
3. Persons who registered and voted with identities
and addresses that cannot in any way be linked to a real person.
4. Persons listed as voting under a name and
identity of a person known to be deceased.
5. Persons whose identities were used to vote, but
who in subsequent interviews told task force investigators that they
did not, in fact, vote in the City of Milwaukee.
Voter-drive fraud. In separate instances,
persons who were paid money to obtain registrations allegedly falsified
approximately 65 names on registration forms, allegedly to obtain more
money for each name submitted. There is no evidence gathered to date
that votes were cast under these specific false names.
Felons. The investigation has found more than
200 felons who were not eligible to vote in the 2004 election, but who
are recorded as having done so. Not all felons are ineligible to vote.
In order for such action to constitute a criminal offense, the
prosecution must establish, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the felon
was ineligible to vote under state law and that the felon knew that he
or she was ineligible to vote. As a result of this standard, the task
force is proceeding cautiously in its charging decisions and is
evaluating each case on the individual facts. We note, however, that we
have expanded our investigation to include felons who may have voted in
suburban areas as well.
In each of the alleged cases of potential fraud, the
task force will not be releasing any further details in order to
protect the integrity of the continuing investigation.
D. Vote Total Discrepancy
An additional finding of the task force to date is
that the number of votes cast far exceeds the total number of recorded
voters. The day after the November 2, 2004 election, the City of
Milwaukee reported the total number of votes as 277,344. In late
November an additional 191 previously uncounted absentee ballots were
added, for a total of 277,535 votes cast. Still later, an additional 30
ballots were added, bringing the total number of counted votes to
277,565. City records, however, have been unable to match this total to
a similar number of names of voters who cast ballots – either at the
polls (under a prior registration or same day registration) or cast
absentee ballots. At present, the records show a total of 272,956 voter
names – for a discrepancy of 4,609.
The task force will continue to investigate this
discrepancy. There remains an open question of how certain absentee
ballots were handled or recorded. We further note that no geographic
pattern exists for these over-votes, and multiple wards had
discrepancies in excess of 100 votes. In addition, some wards had the
opposite: more voters than votes. We believe that one explanation for
this latter circumstance is that individuals were allowed to register
and vote from a specific ward even though they were supposed to
register and vote in a different ward. When a data base was later
compiled, the voter name was moved to the correct ward, but the vote
number remained in the incorrect ward.
A further analysis of this situation continues, but
the investigation is hampered by widespread record keeping errors with
respect to recording the number of voters. At each polling place, the
name and number of voters was supposed to be checked by two identical
poll books, as well as by the voter number (the pink slip). In a
preliminary analysis of individual wards, the task force has found:
poll books that do not match voter numbers; voter numbers that were
skipped; and voter numbers that were used more than once.
E. Additional Record Keeping Problems
As indicated, the task force has been hampered by
numerous instances of inadequate record keeping. Any criminal
prosecution will depend on access to and the available use of original
records accurately recording the names of voters and the corresponding
vote numbers. As indicated above, records regarding vote numbers have
been inconsistent and conflicting. In addition, for criminal purposes,
proof of the identity of the person voting often is best established by
the original (green) voter registration card. Yet in the November 2004
election, same-day registrations were accepted in which the card had
incomplete information that would help establish identity. For example:
48 original cards for persons listed as voting had no name; 548 had no
address; 28 did not have signatures; and another 23 cards had illegible
information. These were part of approximately 1,300 same-day
registrations for which votes were cast, but which election officials
could not authenticate as proper voters within the City. Included in
this 1,300 were 141 same-day registrants from addresses outside the
City of Milwaukee, but who voted within the City of Milwaukee. In
several instances, the voter explicitly listed municipality names other
than Milwaukee on the registration cards. These included cards that
listed “West Allis,” “Oak Creek,” “Ashland,” “Reedsburg,” and “Hayward.”
Another record keeping procedure hampering the
investigation appears to be the post-election misfiling or loss of
original green registration cards that were considered duplicates, but
that in fact corresponded to additional votes. These cards were used to
record votes, but approximately 100 cards of interest to investigators
can no longer be located. In addition, other original green
registration cards continue to be found. As late as April of this year,
an additional box of green registration cards was located by election
officials.
F. Future Investigations
Although many hours already have been undertaken, we
realize that much more investigation is still to be done. There are
many leads and interviews that still must be pursued. If individual
members of the public believe that they have information on specific
instances of election fraud, they are asked to call the Milwaukee
Police Department, Election Task Force at 414-935-7802.
James Finch
Special Agent in Charge
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Nannette Hegerty
Chief, Milwaukee Police Department
E. Michael McCann
Milwaukee County District Attorney
Steven M. Biskupic
United States Attorney
Original at:
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/wie/press_releases/pr051005_electionfraud.pdf