I want to commend Sheriff Christopher Schmaling, Racine County Sergeant Michael Luell and the Racine County Sheriff’s Department for their thorough work investigating the apparent fraud and violations of elections law by the Wisconsin Elections Commission and Ridgewood Care Center.
“Whether it was seen in the Legislative Audit Bureau Audit released on Friday, or through today’s presentation by Sheriff Schmaling, it is clear that the staff and commissioners at the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) are consciously deciding to ignore the law. That cannot happen. When the people who are in charge of enforcing the law actively choose to ignore it, they lose ALL credibility. I do not, and I do not know how any person in good faith can claim they have confidence that WEC will follow or enforce the election law when they so blatantly ignore it – repeatedly. There needs to be mass resignations at WEC and prosecutions where appropriate. WEC’s reputation is damaged beyond repair.
Vulnerable people were taken advantage of and manipulated. Attorney General Josh Kaul and his office’s refusal to even be briefed on this matter is beyond disappointing. It shows that Kaul is more interested in partisan politics than enforcing the law and protecting the vulnerable.
And to make matters worse, when Legislators passed a law this spring to prevent this behavior in the future, Governor Evers vetoed it and every Democrat voted to continue this felonious behavior.
If the Attorney General refuses to prosecute, local district attorneys must. Whether it be Patricia Hanson in Racine, Ishmael Ozanne in Dane County, where the GAB is housed, or elsewhere, there must be consequences – legally and/or electorally. Abraham Lincoln once said “Laws without enforcement are merely good advice.” He was right.
This should not have happened last year, and cannot happen in the future. And everyone who isn’t blinded by partisanship knows this.
