Milwaukee Puts a Vote-Fraud Cop Out of Business

Last week Mike Sandvick, head of the Milwaukee Police Department’s five-man Special Investigative Unit, was told by superiors not to send anyone to polling places on Election Day. He was also told his unit—which wrote the book on how fraud could subvert the vote in his hometown—would be disbanded.

“We know what to look for,” he told me, “and that scares some people.” In disgust, Mr. Sandvick plans to retire. (A police spokeswoman claims the unit isn’t being disbanded and that any changes to the unit “aren’t significant.”)

In February, Mr. Sandvick’s unit released a 67-page report on what it called an “illegal organized attempt to influence the outcome of (the 2004) election in the state of Wisconsin”—a swing state whose last two presidential races were decided by less than 12,000 votes.

The report found that between 4,600 and 5,300 more votes were counted in Milwaukee than the number of voters recorded as having cast ballots. Absentee ballots were cast by people living elsewhere; ineligible felons not only voted but worked at the polls; transient college students cast improper votes; and homeless voters possibly voted more than once.

Much of the problem resulted from Wisconsin’s same-day voter law, which allows anyone to show up at the polls, register and then cast a ballot. ID requirements are minimal. If someone lacks any ID, he can vote so long as someone who lives in the same city vouches for him. The report found that in 2004 a total of 1,305 “same day” voters gave information that was declared “un-enterable” or invalid by election officials.

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Mr. Sandvick’s report concluded “the one thing that could eliminate a large percentage of the fraud” it found would be elimination of same-day voter registration (which is also in use in seven other states). It also suggested that voters present a photo ID at the polls, a requirement the U.S. Supreme Court declared constitutional this spring.

But weeks after the vote fraud report was released, Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold introduced federal legislation to mandate same-day registration in every state. He claimed the system had worked well in Wisconsin and if “we can bring more people into the process, [it] only strengthens our democracy.” Democrats tell me his bill is a top priority of the new Congress.

“They say voter fraud isn’t a problem,” notes Mr. Sandvick, “but after this election it may be all too clear it is.” Now that Mr. Sandvick is resigning from the force after a long, honorable career, let’s hope someone else is allowed to follow up on the spadework he’s done.