Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Tossup Wisconsin won't be tipped by cheaters: Just 19 suspects in two years

Wisconsin primary voters

A Wisconsinite casting a primary ballot this year. Nearly 1.8 million others came by mail.

Kamil Krzaczynski/Getty Images

Fresh numbers about voting fraud in Wisconsin, one of the essential tossup states in the presidential race, offer the latest evidence underscoring how wrong President Trump is about widespread cheating delegitimizing the election.

Nineteen. That's the grand total of instances of suspected fraud statewide during the past three elections: the 2018 midterm, the presidential primary in April and the regular primary last month. That's out of more than 5.2 million ballots cast in those elections.

And just three of the cases involved misuse of mailed ballots, the report Wednesday from the state Elections Commission said, even though voters have smashed previous records for Wisconsin's no-excuse absentee voting system amid the coronavirus pandemic.


Trump has asserted dozens of times that such a rapid expansion of mail voting will assure "massive" fraud this fall, and recently he's been arguing that's the only reason he could lose. Polling suggests otherwise — including a series of recent surveys showing former Vice President Joe Biden narrowly but consistently ahead in the race for Wisconsin's 10 electoral votes. Trump carried them by a sliver of 1 percentage point last time, breaking a seven-election winning streak by Democratic nominees.

The Elections Commission report detailed these cases of fraud, irregularities or violations (in Milwaukee and just eight of the state's other 71 counties) that municipal clerks in charge of election administration have sent to district attorneys in the past two years:

  • 7 election mailings (not ballots) addressed to non-existent voters.
  • 4 people attempting to vote twice in person in the same election by going to two different locations.
  • 4 people providing faulty information on voter registration applications.
  • 3 people attempting to vote twice in the same election, using both mail ballots and either in-person early voting or the polls on Election Day.
  • 1 felon attempting to register.

The commission did not say how many of these reports led to criminal charges or were confirmed by police. And it's possible private citizens or groups reported additional cases to law enforcement.

The infinitesimally small accounting of possible cheating was the second such report this week to underscore the unfounded nature of the president's claims. Montana reported finding 493 dead people on the rolls statewide but not one case of their names being used to vote.

Republicans in control of Wisconsin Legislature often echo the president in saying election fraud is a real concern, and they use that threat to justify one of the strictest voter ID laws in the nation. And two Republican appointees to the commission said they were not molified by the fresh evidence. Although 1.8 million absentee votes have been tallied this year in the two preliminary elections, they said, the report should not be used to predict what will happen in November — when perhaps another 2 million mail votes will be cast.

"I think it's a much bigger risk than we've had in the past," Commissioner Dean Knudson said. "Even if it is a tiny, tiny fraction, it's still a serious infraction for voters to do that."

"We have no idea what's going to happen with this huge number," added Bob Spindell.

But Chairwoman Ann Jacobs, who was appointed by a Democrat, said the report was proof that the system of safeguards against electoral misbehavior "has worked extraordinarily well."

Read More

Carolyn Lukensmeyer Turns 80: A Life of Commitment to “Of, By, and for the People”

Carolyn Lukensmeyer.

The National Institute for Civil Discourse and New Voice Strategies

Carolyn Lukensmeyer Turns 80: A Life of Commitment to “Of, By, and for the People”

I’ve known Dr. Carolyn Lukensmeyer for over a decade, first meeting her about a decade ago. Dr. Lukensmeyer is a nationally renowned expert in deliberative democracy, a former executive director emerita of the National Institute for Civil Discourse, and a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences’ Commission on the Practice of Democratic Citizenship.

On the weekend of her 80th birthday, former colleagues, clients, and friends offered a look at Dr. Lukensmeyer’s extraordinary commitment to “of, by, and for the peoples,” from her earlier days in Iowa and Ohio to the present day.

Keep ReadingShow less
Public Health: Ban First, Study Later? The Growing Assault on Fluoridated Water

Someone getting tap water.

Getty Images, urbazon

Public Health: Ban First, Study Later? The Growing Assault on Fluoridated Water

On May 15, Florida became the second state in the nation to ban fluoride from public drinking water. The bill, signed by Governor Ron DeSantis, is set to go into effect on July 1. Utah’s Governor Spencer Cox enacted a similar ban that went into effect this May. Five other states—Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Nebraska, and South Carolina—have introduced bills that aim to ban fluoride in public drinking water.

Fluoride is a mineral that, in small quantities, has proven to be effective against tooth decay, caused by bacteria that form in the mouth when we eat or drink. The American Academy of Pediatrics states on its website that studies have shown water fluoridation, an intentional treatment process of public drinking water, reduces tooth decay by about 25% in children and adults alike.

Keep ReadingShow less
POLL: Americans Wary About The President Taking Unconventional Actions
APM Research Lab

POLL: Americans Wary About The President Taking Unconventional Actions

Americans show a strong preference for their elected executives — governors as well as the president — to achieve their political goals through conventional, sometimes slow, procedures, according to the McCourtney Institute for Democracy’s latest Mood of the Nation Poll.

Results showed marked partisan differences. For example, 26% of all survey respondents rated a presidential action of firing all recently hired federal employees as “very appropriate,” including only four percent of Democrats and just over half of Republicans.

Keep ReadingShow less
The U.S. Is Rushing To Make AI Deals With Gulf Countries, But Who Will Help Keep Children Safe?

A child's hand holding an adult's hand.

Getty Images, LaylaBird

The U.S. Is Rushing To Make AI Deals With Gulf Countries, But Who Will Help Keep Children Safe?

As the United States deepens its investments in artificial intelligence (AI) partnerships abroad, it is moving fast — signing deals, building labs, and exporting tools. Recently, President Donald Trump announced sweeping AI collaborations with Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. These agreements, worth billions, are being hailed as historic moments for digital diplomacy and technological leadership.

But amid the headlines and handshakes, I keep asking the same question: where is child protection in all of this?

Keep ReadingShow less