Winconsin Family Action, an anti-gay group, has been sending out intentionally misleading ballots containing false instructions for voting in the state’s upcoming recall elections. The return address on the fliers say to mail the ballot back “before Aug. 11,” when the elections end on Aug. 9. WFA allegedly sent out the information on behalf of Americans for Prosperity.
WFA director Julaine Appling admitted to Wisconsin resident Barbara With that WFA was involved with the mailings to a concerned Wisc. citizen, With videotaped the conversation and posted it on Facebook. However, after learning that the ballots constituted mail fraud, Appling was quick to deny knowledge that the AFP was using her address.
According to the Wisconsin Gazette, WFA is a small group whose mission is to fight gay rights. The group has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars supporting Republicans in the Aug. 9 elections. Observers have questioned where WFA was able to obtain such large-scale, unprecedented funding. In her recorded conversation, Appling appears to say that her financial backing has come from billionaire David Koch’s group.
Is this a true case of misprinting, or is the conservative advocacy group trying to throw the election by weeding out Democratic voters?
According to Charles Schultz, a Democratic senior citizen from Wisconsin, “It seems to me like it was an effort by this organization to delay the process or make the process more complicated.”
Schultz officially filed a complaint with the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, pointing out the inaccuracies of the ballots.
“It is interesting to me that I would receive it from the Republican organization, because I’m a Democrat,” Shultz said.
To avoid this kind of confusion in the future, Kevin Kennedy, Wisconsin’s chief election officer, said, “If you need or want to vote absentee, contact your municipal clerk directly and request a ballot.”
