McCain's mailer creates controversy

By MARK PITSCH 608-252-6145

The state elections agency is investigating complaints about a massive campaign mailing Republican Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign has directed toward Wisconsin Democrats and other voters.

Each mailing includes at least one copy of the state application for an absentee ballot that has the address of a local clerk and a box for postage printed on the other side.

But in some cases, the incorrect clerk's address is printed on the application, leading some Democrats to wonder if the Arizona senator's campaign is deliberately trying to get them to apply for absentee ballots in places where they aren't eligible to vote.

"They're trying to knock me off the rolls," said Democrat Beverly Jambois, of Middleton. "I can't tell you how upsetting it is to me. This is how you win elections? By disenfranchising other voters?"

Her household received the flier this week addressed to her husband, Robert, a lawyer for the state Department of Transportation. The couple are registered to vote in Middleton, but the absentee ballot application was addressed to the city clerk's office in Madison.

A McCain campaign spokeswoman said in a statement the mailing mistakes are "certainly not intentional" but she wouldn't answer questions. The statement also said the mailing went to "potential supporters across the spectrum."

Mark Jefferson, executive director of the state GOP, said the mailing is not intended to keep people from the polls and that the wrong absentee ballot applications resulted from incorrect information in databases used for the mailing.

"You do the best with the lists you have, and no list is perfect," Jefferson said. "There is certainly no type of suppression effort going on."

Jefferson said the mailing was directed to hundreds of thousands of voters.

Clerks around the state are currently processing absentee voting applications, and absentee ballots won't be sent out until about four weeks before the Nov. 4 election.

Kyle Richmond, a spokesman for the Government Accountability Board, which oversees elections in the state, said voters can only use absentee ballots in the locality for which they are registered.

The board has received 10 complaints in the last two days from people who received the McCain flier, and the board's staff is investigating them, he said.

Doug Chapin, director of electionline.org, which provides nonpartisan analysis of election reforms, said he suspected the misdirected mailings were likely a mistake.

"Given the choice between evil and a mistake, always bet on a mistake," Chapin said. "If I had to guess, sitting a thousand miles away, I'd bet it was a mistake."

Nancy Zastrow, the Milton clerk and the president of the Wisconsin Municipal Clerks Association, said she has not heard whether clerks around the state have already received absentee ballot requests from voters outside their municipalities because of the mailing.

Advice to voters: Bring IDs, be patient

Associated Press

A top federal election official said Wisconsin voters should be prepared to register at the polls on Election Day in light of a lawsuit asking state election workers to verify thousands of voters' identities.

That's from Rosemary Rodriguez, chairwoman of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. The agency is charged with helping states comply with the federal Help America Vote Act.

Rodriguez said voters should bring identification to the polls so they can register on the spot if they've been flagged as ineligible. She said they also will have to be patient and ready to endure long lines.

But, she said, she doesn't want to see people get frustrated and leave without voting.

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