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JSOnline
Jane Boutan thought it was an invasion of privacy.
Corrine Greuling worried about her safety.
Viola Miller wondered if it could be used to steal her vote.
They and others got upset after the Greater Wisconsin Political Fund mailed fliers over the weekend listing people's names, addresses and whether they voted in the November 2008 and 2010 elections, as well as the same information for a dozen of their neighbors.
"What am I supposed to do? Go shame my neighbor? Whether my neighbor voted or not is none of my business," said Boutan, who lives in Milwaukee's Sherman Park neighborhood.
The fliers arrived in mailboxes over the weekend. The Greater Wisconsin Political Fund, which is affiliated with the Greater Wisconsin Committee, is a liberal group that has run ads against Republican Gov. Scott Walker to help Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett in Tuesday's recall election. The group did not respond to voicemail and email messages Monday afternoon, so the scope and cost of the effort was not known. But the Journal Sentinel heard from people across the metro area, from Oak Creek to Glendale, and Waukesha to Wauwatosa.
Addressed to registered voters, the fliers say: "Who votes is public record! Why do so many people fail to vote? We've been talking about the problem for years, but it only seems to get worse. This year, we're taking a new approach. We're sending this mailing to you and your neighbors to publicize who does and does not vote."
Another version of the flier reads: "Scott Walker won in 2010 because too many people stayed home! Two years ago, more than half a million Wisconsinites who supported Obama failed to vote in the 2010 election. And that's how Governor Scott Walker got elected. This year, we're taking a new approach. We're sending this mailing to you and your neighbors to publicize who does and does not vote."
This version of the flier encouraged people to call or knock on their neighbors' doors to ask them to vote on Tuesday.
Before listing names, addresses and the voting history of the flier recipient and a dozen of their neighbors, the mailing warns that after Tuesday's election "public records will tell everyone who voted and who didn't. Do your civic duty - vote."
Greuling, who voted absentee in Tuesday's election, said she fears for her safety because the information on the fliers could be used by criminals and identity thieves.
"I think this is invasion of my privacy and every other woman's privacy. It's like - here, this is where all the women are" in her neighborhood, said Greuling.
Miller was upset that her flier mentioned the 2008 presidential election because she felt it implied she voted for President Barack Obama - which she said was incorrect - and she didn't appreciate her name and address being used without her permission.
Records of who voted and when are public in Wisconsin. The flier notes that the voting information came from the Government Accountability Board, which runs state elections.
Board receives complaints
The GAB has gotten a large number of complaints from around the state in the last few days about the direct-mail flier, which it points out did not come from the board. Kevin Kennedy, the state's chief election official, said this is the first time that a group has used voter lists in this way.
Kennedy noted that voter records have been public for decades, ever since they were kept in handwritten books in the offices of municipal clerks. Statewide voter registration records have been digital since 2006.
In the past, the Journal Sentinel has encountered problems with the Government Accountability Board's voter database, which has on occasion listed an individual as not voting in a particular election when local records indicated the person did.
State law requires the GAB to sell some information in the statewide voter registration system, though personal details such as birth dates, driver's license numbers or the last four digits of Social Security numbers are never sold. The cost to buy a statewide voter registration list is $12,500, and it's common for political committees and interest groups to purchase lists to send direct mail and absentee ballot applications. Candidates and political groups also use the lists to prepare walking routes for door-to-door canvassers.
Boutan, Miller and Greuling all said they understand that voting records are public, but they were angry that the Greater Wisconsin Political Fund went to great lengths to spread their information to their neighbors.
Plus Miller, who lives in Waukesha, is now worried that since she's already a registered voter and will not be required to show her ID to vote on Tuesday, someone could use her name and address to vote.
"Anybody can go and vote with my name, and there's my vote stolen for somebody I might not have voted for," said Miller. "It wasn't even in an envelope. It's got my name and address on one side of a piece of paper open to everybody."
Re: 2012 U.S. Presidential Election
