Those are lovely, thank you.
I’m not sure when I’ll get around to locating the cities on the list on those maps, so if anyone else gets around to it beforehand, let us know.
I’ve taken a look at the maps provided and compared them to the list of DMV locations on the list that may no longer provide service.
Of the 16 locations, 10 of them are in moderately or strongly Democratic wards.
Of the 16 locations, 3 of them are in wards that appear to be 51-55% Republican.
Of the 16 locations, 2 of them are in moderately or strongly Republican wards.
And one location was indeterminate for my comparison - it’s on the border between a Dem ward and a Rep ward, and I couldn’t be sure which side of the line it fell.
So, it looks to me that the Dems are indeed getting the short end of the stick here, at least going by 2008 data.
On the other hand, most of the locations on the list for expanding to 20 hrs a week are in Democratic wards. I’m not sure how much of an offset that is compared to being shut down entirely.
And now a Republican front group has been sending fake absentee ballots printed with the wrong return date and the wrong return address targeted to Democratic voters.
Not actually absentee ballots. They were applications for absentee ballots. But yeah, it does seem like a deliberate attempt to mislead voters and that’s the important part of the story.
North Hudson man files voter suppression complaint:
http://hudson-wi.patch.com/articles/north-hudson-man-files-voter-suppression-complaint-against-americans-for-prosperity
From the comments section of that story, one poster stated:
“…mailers being sent to Shilling’s district have a return address of Box 413 Waunekee. Turns out it used to be assigned to the Main Street Diner in Waunakee but he gave the box up a few years ago when he got a mailbox. When I called him to ask why he was receiving absentee ballots, he called over to his post office and found out Box 413 is unassigned. So AFP under the name Wisconsin Sportsmen United is illegally using an unassigned PO box so the mailers go nowhere. And yes they are targeting Dems, this is not some typo or just a few bad names on their list. This is outright election and postal fraud.”
That stuff is really underhanded. If illegal,I hope some folks get prosecuted.
How low can they go? And of course some of our resident geniuses will read this, find nothing wrong, and whine about ACORN turning in phony registrations and/or paying per registration application collected.
This AFP sponsored fake ballot thing just hit Colbert tonight. I wonder if that level of exposure means someone somewhere might investigate?
In other news, I’ve come across a few blogs that talk about a plan put together by the GOP, AFP and other groups to engage in voter caging. I have yet to find any cites for this that I have enough confidence in to link here, though. Has anybody else had any more luck in tracking down that story?
Maybe you could post those links, not as cites, but as a starting point for those who would like to try to track it down and see if there’s anything to it.
The six elections to recall Republican state senators are today, for those keeping score at home. Two recalls against Democrats next week.
I don’t know what time the polls close in Wisconsin.
8pm.
Results here:
http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/127331193.html
That’s kind of interesting. Currently the GOP has the edge in every race except the one they were fully expected to lose (Kapanke vs. Shilling). From my understanding, all of these are in conservative leaning districts. I know it’s early, and things can change overnight, but I don’t think that’s a good sign for the Dems.
(Of course, I have no real dog in this fight. I just find the political firestorm to have been interesting :D)
Kapanke is definitely the one who was least likely to hold his seat, and right now, he’s down 52-48. Randy Hopper and Alberta Darling seemed to be the next two, and as I type this, Darling has now just dropped from a healthy lead with 9% in to trailing big with 18% in. This will be interesting to watch tonight. I’m guessing the GOP will hold on to 4 seats just based on how the numbers are coming in.
Darling’s district is interesting to me because in a metro area, the district goes into 4 counties, and gets areas near UWM, solidly middle to lower-middle class, high end north shore, and areas of McMansions in the west. I think it’s a poorly drawn district, but after the redistricting, it’s likely to move further north and west to solidify the Republican base anyway.
Hopper ® just slipped into a 98 vote deficit with 19%. Could turn at any time but this race might be a nailbiter yet with Pasch (D) and Shilling (D) having comfortable leads.
What is District 18 like?
In these immediate races, the Democratic Party is looking to beat 3 GOP incumbents and hold on to the 2 seats next week that they already hold. That would give the Democrats a 1-seat majority (19-18, I think), in the Senate.
I’m not too familiar with it. It’s in/near the Fox Valley, and I always think of that as a vastly middle class area, just based on the people I’ve met through the years that grew up in Fond du Lac, Oshkosh, and so on.
Democrats have a legitimate lead now in three races. Pasch with 12% (39% in), Shilling with 8% (52% in) and King with 4% (23% in).
Not counting chickens before they hatch but things look better than when the first results were coming in.
Not sure I agree 4% up with only 23% counted is a legitimate lead.