Armed RW "poll watchers" in Wisconsin - scary

[annabanana]

http://crooksandliars.com/2014/09/armed-wisconsin-poll-watchers-plan-target

Armed Wisconsin Poll Watchers Plan To Target African-American Voters

Their Facebook page has been scrubbed of the detestable postings they put up, and is now private with the message that "Somebody's watching me."

I sure as hell hope somebody is watching. Somebody like the US Department of Justice, for example.

As AnnieJo at DK points out, Wisconsin now has a concealed carry law and permits poll watchers to stand within three feet of voters. Intimidation, much?

But this might just be the creepiest part of all:

They are finding their targets using a searchable database compiled after the recall, where rightwingers hand-entered the information from the recall petitions into a database, and then cross-referenced with publicly-available court information databases.

There is now a facebook page "watching the poll watchers":
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Watching-the-Wisconsin-Poll-Watcher-Militia/353533321481630?fref=ts

wants more likes...

[mysuzuki2]

1. Just try it fuckers!

They will not last long in my precinct.

[1StrongBlackMan]

2. Sadly ...

They really don't have to make an appearance ... I seem to recall a jurisdiction (in Texas or Georgia, I believe) where groups (True The Vote(?)) circulated flyers in Black precincts stating, among other things, people with outstanding warrants or unpaid fines would be arrested at the polls.

[lpbk2713]

7. Katherine Harris pulled this in Florida in Y2K, IIRC.

And it worked well enough for the Supremes to finish the job.

And the rest is a very sad chapter in history.

[freshwest]

12. You're correct and they use many tricks:

Here, the GOP made up lists of Democratic voters and then questioned their eligibility during the Bush years. DHS also sent out letters from DC questioning long time voters about eligibility.

It's legal, but the state GOP's list was a POS and purely politically driven. They played that game on Democratic voters in an upscale area, who had the time to go and contest it in the days before the election. But others didn't have that luxury and couldn't straighten out the matter in time. This was over the race for governor.

In 2012 the GOP tried a different tack. As most votes are by mail, or by drop off boxes, the GOP candidate sent vans of 'helpers' to pick up the ballots which they said they'd carry to the boxes. Once again, they pulled this in an upscale area that voted Democratic and they alerted media.

The state elections board made announcements that they did not advise anyone to hand over their ballot to anyone they did not know. Most likely to end up in a dumpster, like the GOP employee did in VA with registrations in 2012. He got away with it, too.

The Democratic party headquarters downtown was also broken into and data stolen, IIRC. There were several offices vandalized, and shots fired into them in other states during 2012.

In the last election, a Teabagger was elected to be head of the elections board and we lost a long time liberal judge on the state supreme court in the same election to another bagger.

Now the OC and 2nd Amendment Solution gangs are going to the polling places here. There will be trouble from top to bottom.

Some here say that the vote means nothing, or that they'll vote 3rd party. It's only one party trying to make sure the other one does not get to vote, stealing registrations and ballots, and running for every office they can to bend the rest of us to their will.

Yeah, it matters to them if we vote. Does it matter to us, though?

[Gothmog]

3. Voter caging is an old GOP trick

Hopefully, the DOJ will get involved in this

[99th_Monkey]

4. and that's not all, WI journo arrested for asking a question.

Last edited Mon Sep 22, 2014, 04:13 PM - Edit history (1)

http://www.nationofchange.org/citizen-journalist-arrested-jailed-asking-wisconsin-politician-question-1411084528

LAST MINUTE CHANGES REQUIRING VOTER ID AGAIN.
http://truth-out.org/news/item/26309-wi-election-officials-and-advocates-scrambling-after-voter-id-reinstated

Sounds like a perfect storm for an electoral disaster.

[PeaceNikki]

14. That guy who was arrested is a well-known trouble-maker and that was in NO way related to this

issue.

[99th_Monkey]

19. Often journalists are seen as "trouble makers"

esp. by those with something to hide.

From the article: "Kristan’s story has gone largely untouched by progressive media publications in Madison, possibly due to Barca’s popularity with progressives."

[PeaceNikki]

20. heh... he's well-known in these parts for making all of his 'stories' 100% about him.

http://www.wxow.com/story/15476698/man-dumps-beer-on-lawmaker-at-madison-bar
http://bloggingblue.com/2012/04/miles-kristan-behaving-badly/


And his attention seeking still has fucking ZILCH to do with this OP or election.

The whole interaction was fucking ridiculous. EVERYONE in the state knew Kahl was a Republican. OF COURSE Barca knew. We all did. I give Barca the benefit of the doubt in that interaction. He has a history of being a good man and great Democrat. We saw edited (not raw and complete) footage. Barca is still a good man and a great Democrat that we need in the WI Assembly. So he endorsed a former Republican, BFD? He endorsed someone who is (and was at the time) an identified Democrat and who since then has consistently voted with Democrats in the Assembly. We need more of that in the WI legislative branch. Not less.

Miles Kristan is a drama-seeking jerk. He's no 'journalist'. He has no publication, no employer.

[99th_Monkey]

22. Where the Wisconsin context is a heated election

complete with "open carry poll watchers", and last-minute election law changes to reinstate unconstitutional Voter ID law; then it gets my attention when progressive journalists start getting arrested for asking questions, even if that journalist has not always performed perfectly. I've never been to Wisconsin, so don't know lay of the land, but I stand by my being concerned about journalists being arrested for doing their job.

[PeaceNikki]

25. He's not a journalist. And no friend of progressives.

He's an agitator. A harasser with a history.

He owns an art gallery, he's not a journalist.

[99th_Monkey]

26. he said she said .. whatever. we are both entitled to an opinion.

peace out PeaceNikki

[G_j]

5. Intimidation of voters

18 U.S. Code § 594 - Intimidation of voters Whoever intimidates, threatens, coerces, or attempts to intimidate, threaten, or coerce, any other person for the purpose of interfering with the right of such other person to vote or to vote as he may choose, or of causing such other person to vote for, or not to vote for, any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate from the District of Columbia, or Resident Commissioner, at any election held solely or in part for the purpose of electing such candidate, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.

[Xyzse]

9. Must print that out... in Bold

In large posterboard.

Heck, I wish I was in those areas so that I could stay around that place and parade that in precints.

[alterfurz]

6. WI voter intimidation militia in a quandary over what to wear to the polls...

...brown shirts, or white sheets?

[kelliekat44]

8. Justice Department will be there also and they won't know who it is. nt

[gordianot]

10. Armed you say maybe that in itself will turn out the vote from sheer spite.

Speaking for myself if that ever happened while voting they would have to shoot me to shut me up.

[sinkingfeeling]

11. Doesn't the state have a law that bans guns at polling places? They ban signs

and beer, but not guns?

[marble falls]

13. I'm all for it. How do we get trained to be a poll watcher?

[PeaceNikki]

16. Contact LWV, ACLU or DPW.

[PeaceNikki]

15. I suspect that is/was a bunch of bullshit.

The polls are and will continue to be watched by the LWV, ACLU and local Democratic reps. Each have a direct line to attorneys and the GAB. In addition, many polling places are gun-free zones so we will see how this goes.

[99th_Monkey]

27. I'm CERTAIN police will strictly enforce gun-free zones & PROMPTLY arrest "open carry" nutjobs

[PeaceNikki]

28. Since many are schools, i don't see that being a problem.

[blkmusclmachine]

17. Is this terrorism???

[billhicks76]

21. Yes

Someone should confront them physically.

[hughee99]

23. If they're white republicans, then yes

It is terrorism.

[steve2470]

18. armed RW poll watchers = Klan, end of story nt

[hifiguy]

24. How the hell is this legal?

Has no one informed the FBI or other federal LE agencies?

[marions ghost]

32. exactly

---

[Dwayne Hicks]

29. Reportthem

Many comments say they have reported them to the DOJ and FBI I urge everyone here to do the same. It really is time we stop being so timid in the face of violent extremism. Also If the DOJ or FBI does not do anything in time I also urge everyone to counter them by "watching the poll watchers". Armed if necessary. Remember two can play at this game.

[marions ghost]

33. yes there should be an outcry of protest at this--

complain to the authorities--swamp their inboxes and phones.

If they can get away with this kind of open voter intimidation, we are stupid to let it happen...

[Scuba]

30. Even if they don't show up, the damage is done.

[Enthusiast]

31. Brownshirts

[el_bryanto]

34. Salon has a story about it as well

It is genuinely creepy how overt it is; they simply think that Democrats or those who would vote for Democrats should not be allowed to vote.

Here's the article.

Bryant