RPW: Tire-Slashing Case to Shed Light on Election Day Improprieties against GOP
1/10/2006
Contact: Christine Mangi, (608) 257-4765
(Madison, WI)...The trial of five Milwaukee Democratic activists charged with slashing the tires of 20 Republican get-out-the vote vans on Election Day 2004 is expected to get underway today, placing Milwaukee in the spotlight once again for fraudulent Election Day activities. Two of those charged are the sons of prominent Democrats, U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore and former acting Milwaukee Mayor Marvin Pratt.
"This incident is indicative of how extreme the acts of Election Day impropriety and fraud has become in Wisconsin," said Rick Graber, chairman of the Republican Party of Wisconsin. "It demonstrates the lengths people will go to undermine the system and shake the faith of voters."
Early on the morning of Nov. 2, 2004, tires on 20 vehicles that were to be used by RPW to help voters get to the polls, including the elderly and disabled, were slashed while parked in a lot on the 7100 block of West Capitol Drive.
While the Democratic Party of Wisconsin has denied involvement, four of the five charged were paid staffers with the party beginning in the summer of 2004. At a two-day preliminary hearing last year, two out-of-state Democratic staffers described an initial plan to plaster the GOP office with Democratic paraphernalia as part of what was dubbed "Operation Elephant Takeover." That plan was dropped when the activists learned a security guard was at the GOP office, and allegedly spun into the tire-slashing debacle. One witness in the criminal complaint said the defendants left Democratic Party Headquarters at 3 a.m on Nov. 2, and returned shortly after, excited about slashing the tires
The five activists are charged with criminal damage to property, a felony that carries a maximum sentence of three and half years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Their trial will be covered by the cable station Court TV.
"Hopefully justice will prevail and those who committed this crime will be punished," said Graber. "As we approach another election season, this trial should be lesson that those who attempt to suppress an individual's right to vote will pay the price."
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