A poll watchers' tale in the City of Racine

Our friend Van Wangaarrd trails by about 700-800 votes as the canvassing continues tomorrow. Read this story to find out why, in a county that Scott Walker won big, Van did not.  We may need to be poll watchers in Racine next November. These are the true heroes on election day...


The following is what I personally witnessed in Racine this past Tuesday:


My first stop in the city of Racine was the Cesar Chavez Community Center pollingplace. As I walked towards the entrance to the building there were two vans.One of the van drivers was swearing up a storm about people taking pictures ofhis license plates. He was not happy. I went inside the building, and inquiredas to where the chief election inspectors were located. I did meet oneinspector, the other inspector, I was told, was spending most of his timetalking to the van driver outside. I never did get to meet him. As there werea number of observers at this location I decided to move on.My next stop was the Festival Park polling place. The vans were also arrivinghere on a regular basis. I observed at the registration table and found outthere were a number of issues in regards to "proof of residency." People wereattempting to register but did not have the proper documents to do so. Shortlythereafter, one of the observers was threatened by a van driver who told her hewas going to bash her head into the cement. She called the police and he didreceive a $400 ticket. Another man was not allowed to vote and after a stringof four-letter words, was also escorted out of the building by two otherpolicemen.I decided to follow one of the vans which dropped off a couple of men in front ofa home that had chairs set out on the front lawn with a man cooking food over agrill. The van then proceeded another block to the Bray Community Center. Theplace was swarming with people. To my amazement I realized that in everydirection there where teams of young people in yellow shirts going door to dooron every street asking people to vote. It appeared that when when they found aperson who agreed to vote they would make a phone call. I later was told by afellow observer, that the rumor was that before school let out, 450 young peoplewere hired from Racine Horlick High School to be part of this "Knock and Drag"operation. I also found out that the director of the Bray Center was "Jemel"which happened to be the same name of the man who threatened the observer atFestival Park. The vans were also here and once again the real problem was atthe registration table. People were using personal letters or "occupant"advertisements as their proof of residency. This was also the location that avery sharp fellow observer challenged a voter that he recognized as having votedthree times.In and of itself, there is nothing illegal about a "knock and drag" operation.What is potentially illegal is what was written on the van windows. Besides"Vote Power" or Vote Barrett" or "Vote Yes" we also saw the letters "YMCM."This is the name of a rapper which stands for "Young Money Cash Money." Otherobservers witnessed the words "cash money" on the vans. People in Racine toldme that in the past these voters would receive what looked like an invitation to


a party, which actually was a coupon that was redeemable at a local store. Sowas this group paying cash to lure people to vote? “Jemel” was eagerly checkingthe poll books to see who had voted and who hadn't.I was appalled! I had never seen anything like this before. It was a travestyof our election process. Without VOTER ID we have no way to determine if thevoter is who they say they are and if they are qualified to vote as set forth inour state constitution. My civil rights were trampled upon in Racine this pastTuesday.I am asking the Government Accountability Board and the Department of Justice toinvestigate the voter irregularities in the city of Racine. Because this was astate-wide race, they have the authority to investigate if any criminal activitymay have occurred. Please give the Dept. of Justice a call at 608-266-1221 andthe GAB at 608-266-8005 and ask them if they will be doing an investigation.This is important. This type of operation may be coming to a town near you this fall.

Ardis Cerny