Advocates of Voter ID laws have yet a new example to use when making their arguments, not that anyone is aware however because no major media outlet has picked up the story. Despite the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s attempt to downplay the evidence uncovered in the 2004 election, there is certainly enough to convince any sane minded individual that stricter voting laws are necessary.

Nearly three years after police began a probe into 2004 voting flaws in Milwaukee, investigators issued a report Tuesday that says eliminating same-day registration and requiring voters to show photo IDs would minimize the problems found.

The 67-page report comes long after state and federal authorities ended their investigation of the system, prompted by a series of Journal Sentinel reports in 2005 that detailed problems in Milwaukee and elsewhere.

The report underlines cases where investigators pushed for more aggressive prosecution of election fraud, particularly in cases involving out-of-state campaign workers who voted in Wisconsin while here.

But it mostly reads as a detailed analysis of a deeply flawed election in the city.

“The Milwaukee Election Commission, through their ineptitude, raised enough reasonable doubt to prevent any further criminal prosecution.”

The report suggests the biggest difference between prosecutors and investigators centered on cases where out-of-state campaign workers voted here without any intent of becoming residents.

It cited at least 16 cases in which workers from outside the state voted while employed here by an outside group attempting to influence the election.

The report does not indicate the name of the group, or the campaign (or campaigns) the out-of-state workers were part of. But those voters, the report says, had to “commit multiple criminal acts” in the process of voting.

I highlighted that one sentence to emphasize the importance of confirming elligibility of voters prior to them casting the ballot. This was not a case of someone voting in the wrong district, this was a blatant attempt to manipulate election results. But let’s see what else the report found:

• Vote gap: The Journal Sentinel first estimated the discrepancy between the ballot count and the number of people listed as having voted at about 7,000, though prosecutors said previous efforts to resolve the gap narrowed that number to about 4,600.
• Felons: The newspaper identified at least 278 cases statewide where felons may have improperly voted, with many of those in the city. The actual number is likely higher because the newspaper’s review included a partial database of voters.
• Election inspectors: The investigators found that five of the city’s election inspectors were convicted felons, and thus ineligible to fulfill the role, plus two who had pleaded guilty to 2003 charges of misdemeanor election fraud.

This story will have absolutely no impact on the left though, as those attempting to manipulate the election were in all likelihood doing so for the Democrats.

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Election 2008, Liberals