Groups protest voter fraud ads
Community leaders gather Tuesday in front of a billboard at W. Morgan Ave. and S. 22nd St. to protest billboards that they say are meant to suppress the minority vote.
Billboards aim to keep minorities from polls, they say
Several community groups Tuesday condemned billboards throughout Milwaukee that warn "Voter Fraud is a Felony," saying they are an attempt by right-wing sources to intimidate and suppress minority voting.
At a press conference in front of one of the billboards at S. 22nd St. and W. Morgan Ave., the groups called on Clear Channel Outdoor, the owner of the billboards, to take down the ads and disclose who paid for them.
The bottom of the billboards, which show people behind jail bars, the words "We Voted Illegally" and the penalty for voting illegally, disclose only that the billboards were paid for "by a private family foundation."
"We're tired of these tactics and signs like these that keep various groups from participating," said Jayme Montgomery-Baker, state director of the League of Young Voters. "There are so many other issues we should be talking about, like jobs, education and health care."
The Rev. Ken Wheeler, pastor of Cross Lutheran Church and a member of the Milwaukee Innercity Congregations Allied for Hope, or MICAH, said: "The message is offensive and implicitly and explicitly creates a climate of fear in the African-American community that was historically denied justice and discouraged from voting."
Scot Ross, director of the liberal One Wisconsin Now, said that after a 20-month investigation the state attorney general prosecuted only 11 people for voter fraud. He said the issue of voter fraud had been used by Republicans and the right wing to discourage college students and minorities from voting.
"This is not the Republican Party of Wisconsin, and we have no idea who or what group is behind these billboards, or what their intentions are," said Andrew Welhouse, communications director for the Republican Party in Madison.
Although he hadn't seen the billboards, Welhouse said it appeared to him that the message was clear: When a vote is illegally or fraudulently cast, it takes away a legal vote, and that can be important in a close election.
"We want to make it easy to vote and hard to cheat, especially in this election when so many are fired up," he said.
Mark Rausch, vice president of real estate and public affairs for Clear Channel Outdoor in Pewaukee, said the 12-by-25-foot billboards are placed primarily along surface streets and the Milwaukee area.
The first purchase of 50 were put up Sept. 13 and ran for four weeks.
The second purchase of 25 started running Oct. 4 and will run until election day, he said.
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