Would you like to test the Voting Machine Software Today?

If you live in the City of Waukesha, I have a difficult favor to ask. 

Before you mark your ballot today in City of Waukesha could you first attempt to cast the ballot into the machine without any marks on it at all?  Completely clean. There is a high price to pay though because if the machine accepts this perfectly unmarked ballot, then you will have cast no vote in this election ; no vote for governor, no vote for AG, no vote for anyone.

This is a difficult thing ask of a voter from the city of Waukesha. 

From some of my past work, I am confident the optech insight scanners used in the City of Waukesha (actually all jurisdictions) have a software defect that will allows a completely blank ballot to be accepted by the Insight Scanner.  A blank ballot will feed into the front slot, the ballot number on the front will increase by one, and the ballot will be transferred to the secure ballot box beneath.

Today, I am going to stand outside a polling place in the City of Waukesha and see if a voter there will attempt to cast a blank ballot into the machine on my behalf despite the possibility that there will be no vote cast.  But a backup would helpful.

I am focused on City of Waukesha because I know Clerk Kozlik specifically checks for this during her pre-election testing. The voting machine software in test mode produced a printed report regarding the perfectly blank ballot she presented to it. That output from the scanner was a report on the tape that essentially stated:

“Had this been a real election this ballot would have been rejected.”

This is one difference between test mode and election mode that I know of in the exists within the software for this scanner.

If the blank, unmarked ballot is rejected by the scanner because it is under voted, then you can mark it as you please and cast the ballot into the machine for processing.   No harm. No foul.

If you accept this proposition though, then could you let me please know what happened to the blank ballot:

• accepted or rejected?
• Which polling location?
• What time of day?

  You can leave test result on the blank as a comment to this blog post.

If your perfectly blank ballot was accepted by the machine, then I will collect a certified copy of the blank ballot from the city clerk, all of the testing records and use the materials to write an academic paper on this software defect.

Public Meeting Notices From 25 Most Populous Municipalities

On October 15, 2014, the Office of the Wisconsin Attorney General issued a formal opinion that elections processes are open meetings; Specifically the canvassing of votes by the various Boards of Canvassers are opne meetings must follow the rules for public meeting such as 24 hours notice of the times and places of the mettings.  The AG opinion can be found at: http://www.doj.state.wi.us/sites/default/files/formal/OAG-05-14.pdf

One of the types of canvassing boards is the Local Board of Canvassers.  This meeting occurs in the polling location and begins, when the chief election inspectors announces: "Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Polls are now Closed."  The members of the Local Board of Canvassers are the election inspectors and the duties of the Local Board of Canvassers are laid out in WI Stats. 7.51.  The duties include reconciling poll books, reconciling that the nubmer of ballots handed to electors equals the number of ballots in the ballots box, securing the ballots, announcing results, etc.

Now that his age old requirement that election canvassing be public has been formally recognized by the state of Wisconsin's open meeting law, I thought I would survey the compliance to the notice requirements of WI stats. 19.84 by subscribing to the meeting notices under WI stats. 19.84(1)(b).  I chose to subscribe to the meeting notice of the Local Boards of Canvassers for the 25 most populous cities in the state of Wisconsin.

Among other things this subscription provide an enumeration  of the polling locations.  Something many communities do not readily provide.  True if you provide an address the site will tell you the polling location.  But election integity work it is useful to have a list of all poling location.  In the past I have used Zillow.com to find a house address, and then pasted the address of the house for sale into the municipal Find your Polling Location page order to determine the location of a polling location near some neighborhood.

The other  protection afforded by the AG ruling that elections are open meeting is that you can now video tape or audio record the canvassing of the vote by any board of canvassers (local, municipal, school, county,etc) without fear of arrest as happened on November 6, 2012 when the three of us dared to video tape the local canvassing of the vote at the Zablocki Library.  Tossed by Commission David Redemann no less.  The exact quote fro the chief inspector was: Get out!!! We're working here!

If you would like to observe the canvassing of the vote by the local boards of canvassers after polls close, here is where those meeting will be held for 21 of the 25 most populous municipalities in Wisconsin:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

November 4, 2014 General Election
Muncipality	Name of Municipal Clerk	Link to Public Notice
City of Appleton	Dawn  Collins	Type D Notice Provided
City of Beloit	Rebecca Houseman Lemire	Type D Notice Provided
City of Brookfield	Kelly S Michaels	Type D Notice Provided
City of Eau Claire	Donna A. Austad	No 19.84 public meeting notice was provided as of 8:00 pm, Monday, November 3, 2014
City of Fond du Lac	Maggie  Hefter	Type D Notice Provided
City of Franklin	Sandra  Wesolowski	Type D Notice Provided
City of Green Bay	Kris  Teske	Type D Notice Provided
City of Greenfield	Jennifer  Goergen	Type D Notice Provided
City of Janesville	Jean Ann Wulf	Type D Notice Provided
City of Kenosha	Debra  Salas	Type D Notice Provided
City of La Crosse	Teri  Lehrke	Type D Notice Provided
City of Madison	Maribeth L Witzel-Behl	Type D Notice Provided
City of Manitowoc	Jennifer  Hudon	Type D Notice Provided
Village of Menomonee Falls	Janice  Moyer	Type D Notice Provided
City of Milwaukee	Neil  Albrecht	Type D Notice Provided (English)
City of Milwaukee	Neil  Albrecht	Type D Notice Provided (Spanish)
City of New Berlin	Kari  Morgan	Type D Notice Provided
City of Oak Creek	Catherine A Roeske	No 19.84 public meeting notice was provided as of 8:00 pm, Monday, November 3, 2014
City of Oshkosh	Pamela  Ubrig	No 19.84 public meeting notice was provided as of 8:00 pm, Monday, November 3, 2014
City of Racine	Janice M Johnson-Martin	No 19.84 public meeting notice was provided as of 8:00 pm, Monday, November 3, 2014
City of Sheboygan	Susan  Richards	No 19.84 public meeting notice was provided as of 8:00 pm, Monday, November 3, 2014
City of Waukesha	Gina  Kozlik	Type D Notice Provided
City of Wausau	Toni  Rayala	Type D Notice Provided
City of Wauwatosa	Carla  Ledesma	Type D Notice Provided
City of West Allis	Monica  Schultz	Type D Notice Provided
City of West Bend	Amy  Reuteman	Type D Notice Provided

Blegging to pay for an attorney

On November 6th, 2012 I and two other were attempting to document the little know "satelite upload process" used in the City of Milwaukee. While attempting to do so were were asked to leave the pollining location by Milwaukee election Commissions David Redeman.

As can be heard in this video the specific reason give for our removal the closing of the polling activities from publis view was *because* they election inspectors were still working. This order and reason is given at 3:13 in the YouTube video below.



Removing a polling location and the poll closing activities from public view is a form of election fraud in the state of Wisconsin. Becasue of this I have filed a complaint with the Public Integrity Unit of the Office of the Milwaukee County Distract Attorney, requesting Commissioner Redeman be prosecuted for this election fraud.

It is clear to me that Milwaukee County ADA Bruce Landgraf though has decided the best way to protect Commissioner Redeman from my crinimal complaint is to instead trump up some charges against me. Because of this prosecution I am now in need a criminial defense attorney with experience with Wisconsin election law.

For SE Wisconsin I have settled on Mike Maistelman. Unfortunately this means I need a legal defense fund in order to retain amd pay Attorney Maistelman. Would you consider a donation?

You can donate here
 Donate

or go to https://www.wepay.com/donations/legal-defense-fund-for-john-washburn

Tomorrow there is a Primary ofr Germantown School Board

For an election integrity geek, you would think I would pay less attention to the process and more to the candidates. But with the open records lawsuits regarding the destruction of electronic election records entering discovery and some health issue, I must admit I let my attention on the primary for the Germantown School district lapse.

The primary is for 3 people vying for the open seat vacated by Kim Fischer. The candidates are:

1. Sarah Larson
2. Christina Wolf-Lang, and
3. Lisa Laskowski

If you want the budget of the Germantown School to balloon with little or no limits, then vote for people in the reverse order listed. If you would like Act 10 tools applied to the Germantown school district budget, then vote for the candidate in the order listed.

In short:

• Spendthrift = Laskowski
• Act 10 Implementor = Sarah Larson

That is my opinion for what it is worth.

Where to vote tomorrow:

• District 1: Bethlehem Ev. Lutheran School, W14290 Bel Aire Lane
• District 2: Germantown American Legion Post, W15932 Freistadt Road
• District 3: Life Church Student Center, N11325 Squire Drive
• District 4: CrossWay Church, N10041 Pilgrim Road

Remembering WTC 7

A video montage to remember the collapse of WTC 7 and the sacrifices of Americans and American society because of it.

Where There's a Whip, There's a Way.

To tyrants foreign and domestic remember the Grandsons of Liberty are going to fight, all day, all day, all day through the natural progression of Liberty:

• Dum Spiro Pugnabo
• Dum Spiramus Pugnabimus
• Dum Spiras pugnabis

I wish we had peace officers in this county

but we don't. This country has replaced its peace officers with police officers and law enforcement officers; Mindless drones enforcing the dictates of the ruling upon the ruled without regard for Justice, Truth, Mercy, or even common sense.

Here are some citizen-assaulting LEO's at work this weekend in the government's capitol, Washington D.C. I count three criminal assaults by one LEO alone, but LEO's don't enforce laws against the anointed Blues, only against mundanes.



I take delight and see great hope in the fact that several random American people from American society recognize citizen-assaulting jack boots when they see them and more importantly:

DEFY THE JACK BOOTS
It underscores the truth that: The antidote for vision 1984 is the spirit of 1776.

The "law is the law and we just enforce the law" is the same rationalization used by East German border guards as they attempt to kidnapped this woman(seen at 0:47) And history remembers East Germany Law Enforcement Officers (and Moaist, Peronista, and Bush-Obama LEOs as well) with such revernece and fondness that all mothers want their babies to grow up to be LEO's.

For the compare and contrast between peace officers and law enforcement officers though one need look no farther than the Andy Griffith show where the peace officer, Sheriff Andy, has to reign in law enforcement officer, Deputy Ferguson.I'd say out-of-control Law Enforcement Officer, but that would imply LEO's are sometimes IN control of themselves or a situation. Evidence is scant on that proposition.

I love the D.C. video because of the Freedom-loving defiance that blossoms whenever Liberty is curtailed as a once free society shuts down. As the song says: Big Brother's marching so we all stand in his way.

Resistance is not Futile because Resistance is Victory.

As Americans animated by the spirit of 1776, we have not only the opportunity to stand in Tyranny’s way, as Americans, as the Grandsons of Liberty, we have the obligation to do so.

The Germantown School Board Holds Another illegal Meeting Tonight

The Germantown Board of Education again failed to give proper notice of the meeting of the Planning Committee held this evening, December 2, 2010. At least I think it’s was the Planning Committee. The meeting agenda at Rockfield Elementary school was on an interior wall behind locked doors. Even with the zoom lens my 48 year-old eyes had trouble reading the "public" notice. This continues the Board's 100% failure rate to hold a legal meeting of the Germantown Board of Education since they were first told of their statutory violations on June 14, 2010.

Tonight the Board violated WI Stats. 19.84(1)(b) in yet another way.

From June 14, 2010 to September 27, 2010, the board posted the "public" meeting notices in glass cases within each school building behind a minimum of 2 locked doors. The policy of the Board is that stepping foot on a property containing a school building or entering the building proper is trespassing UNLESS you have a child attending the school and you sign in at the office. Even if you overlook the trespass policy, posting meeting agendas inside a building behind at least two locked doors is not a "public notice of a meeting."

The annual meeting of the Germantown Board of Education was on September 27, 2010. The Board was anxious to not have any technicalities foul up the tax hikes it was to enact during the annual meeting. On the morning of September 27, 2010 the agendas for the annual meeting were moved from the usual places within the school buildings to the interior side of an exterior window. The agendas were visible to anyone standing outside the school building, but that pesky open meeting law, WI Stats. 19.84(3), requires a meeting notice not only be public, but that it be posted "least 24 hours prior to the commencement of such meeting." [emphasis mine]

DOH!! So much for the tax hike being legal.

Since September 27, 2010 the Germantown School Board has recognized that no district property with a school building on it is a public place. The student safety measures (of which the above trespassing policy is a part) have removed the school buildings and the properties they rest upon from the public spaces within the community. The district rightly considers student safety more import than the unfettered public access which the "public" aspects of WI Stats. 19.84 require. In recognition that posting meeting notices anywhere on or within the 6 school buildings (while convenient for the district staff) is not public in the sense of WI Stats. 19.84, the Board has changed its official position regarding the notice requirements of WI Stats. 19.84. While the staff of the school district need do no more than go to work to see an agenda of an upcoming Board meeting, the other 18,000 residents of the Village of Germantown are required go to the distict offices, located on Donges Bay Road, and view the agenda posted on the interior side of external window near the southwest entrance. The official position of the Board of Education is that posting a meeting agenda in this single (but, admittedly public) location is sufficient (in a village of 34 square miles and 18,000 people) to apprise members of the public and the news media of time, date, place and subject matter of the meeting as required by WI Stats. 19.84(2). This position is preposterous and is in stark contrast to the opinions held by Wisconsin Attorneys General since 1977 that three public locations is the minimum. This is the Board's official position and Chairman Michael Erdman even stated during the October 25, 2010 meeting of the Board that they are "comfortable" with this policy. On that, I will let DA Cannon sort the matter out as his office works through the complaint I sent to his office under WI Stats. 19.97.

The problems with not meeting the requirements of WI Stats. 19.84 though are stiff. First there is $25 - $300 fine faced by each Board member. The fine is per meeting attended. The second is that if the meeting is not properly noticed, then the meeting is not an open meeting. If it is not an open meeting, then any actions taken during the meeting are voidable. In Wisconsin:

Every meeting of a governmental body shall be preceded by public notice as provided in s. 19.84, and shall be held in open session. At any meeting of a governmental body, all discussion shall be held and all action of any kind, formal or informal, shall be initiated, deliberated upon and acted upon only in open session except as provided in s. 19.85. [19.83(1)]

The Planning Committee meeting was not properly noticed because the postings in the school buildings were again placed behind locked doors and on interior walls of the school building. In addition to this usual failure though, the Board also failed to send the meeting notice to all "those news media who have filed a written request for such notice as required by WI Stats. 19.84(1)(b).

Back in September 2010, I requested in writing to be notified of meetings of the Germantown School Board. But, by not sending meeting notices to the interested media (or at least me among the other media), the Board failed to meet the requirements of WI Stats. 19.84.

I am not sure there are many more ways the Village of Germantown Board of Education can violate WI Stats. 19.84. But I have faith. They will. The Board and its staff have proven positively ingenious in violating both the letter and spirit of Wisconsin's open meetings law.