5th Dec 2011 at 22:26 | By Brian Sikma
UPDATED: One Voter Possibly Cleared, What About the Other 35?
By Brian Sikma and Collin Roth
On December 5, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel followed up on Media Trackers’ report about potential election irregularities at a property owned by state Senator Lena Taylor (D-Milwaukee). The paper reported that new information had emerged in the story and that Russell Collins, the man originally believed to be ineligible to vote, was indeed eligible to vote in the April 5 election after being released from custody on March 15, 2011, ahead of the date listed in court documents.
Court records obtained by Media Trackers and reviewed by various news organizations, including the Journal Sentinel’s Dan Bice, showed that Collins had, as of April 5, 2011, not completed all aspects of his sentence for a felony that he earned in late 2010. According to the December 5 story, Bice reported that in a phone call made approximately ten days after he first reported the story, he learned new information about the case. Oddly, however, the Journal Sentinel sought to blame Media Trackers for the fact not coming to light sooner.
Here is what the Journal Sentinel reported on November 21 when it first wrote about the questions surrounding Senator Taylor, her mother, and the property owned by the senator at 1018 N. 35th Street:
Staffers at Media Trackers raised questions regarding several of the same-day registrants, including Russell Collins, 44, of Milwaukee. Records show Collins was convicted of a Class G felony for theft last year, and he was still doing work-release at the County Correctional Facility-South at the time of the April election.
Felons are prohibited from voting in Wisconsin elections until they complete their sentences, including probation, work-release or parole.
The Journal Sentinel, as evident from the quote above, verified that Mr. Collins had indeed committed a felony and was, according to court records, ineligible to vote on April 5, 2011. Presumably from the very language the paper used on November 21 it was satisfied that records did indeed show that Mr. Collins was not yet eligible to vote as of the April 5 election.
In an e-mail exchange with Media Trackers, Dan Bice did say on December 4 that he believed the information available at the time he wrote the first story was accurate. “As far as I can tell, you are correct that the records you provided us were factual.”
We are more than pleased that after nearly two weeks, the Journal Sentinel has decided to help in this investigation by uncovering more facts. It is good to know that Mr. Collins did not violate state election law and did not take advantage of Lena J. Taylor, the senator’s mother, who corroborated for him on his same day voter registration form.
That established, what about the other 35 registered voters at Senator Taylor’s property?
Russell Collins was just 1 of 36 registered voters at that home, and 1 of 23 who voted on April 5 from a residence that is supposedly zoned for no more than 18 people. So as much as Senator Taylor, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and left-wing bloggers might wish to say “case closed, nothing to see here” there still remains 35 unanswered questions dealing with several important issues.
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Discussion | 7 Comments
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Michael Allen said
Dec 6, 2011 at 6:54 AM
You guys messed up, you failed to verify what you assumed were facts before running with the story. And why not, this story is a dream come true for you! Proof of voter fraud AND the takedown of a sitting dem senator. Dispicable. Even after the story is disproven you continue to deny and blame and accuse. Your organization should have a tarnished reputation after this royal screw-up, but it actually just might endear yourselves more to your base.
As far as the 36 registered voters, that doesn’t seem unreasonable for a building housing 23 people, the election commission does not purge address information for registrants very often, so the only way former tenant registration info would be detached from a property is if that person registers elsewhere AND the commission follows up and detaches the old names from the old property. From my experience they don’t always even do that in a timely manner. And you can’t believe it’s possible that 23 people might be living in a space zoned for 18? I think what you have here is a possible zoning infraction and that’s it. You should stop with the desperation tactics, it’s unbecoming of humans.
kathy morris said
Dec 6, 2011 at 7:56 AM
Why does the black community continue to elect these people? Do they think it is ok? Don’t they see that these elected officials do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING for them except spew rhetoric and ideologies to inflame and incite and never bring a thing to their communities.Never bring anything positive and helpful.
Michael Farrey said
Dec 6, 2011 at 12:27 PM
Wow Kathy so much substance! How d you do it? bla bla bla … spew rhetoric and ideologies to inflame and incite and never bring a thing ………… sounds like what your doing!
Daniel Bice said
Dec 6, 2011 at 7:12 PM
Here is the full version of what I wrote Brian Sikma last week: t became clear that the records Media Trackers posted and released regarding Mr. Collins were incomplete. As a result, many news outlets and blogs suggested — and in some case, stated outright — that Mr. Collins engaged in voter fraud and Sen. Taylor and her mother aided him in doing so. In reality, Mr. Collins was not in state or county custody or under state or county supervision on April 5.”
For whatever it is worth.
Daniel Bice said
Dec 6, 2011 at 7:14 PM
I’m sorry about the previous post. Here is what I wrote Brian Sikma: “As far as I can tell, you are correct that the records you provided us were factual. But that is not to say the records were without problems.. . It became clear that the records Media Trackers posted and released regarding Mr. Collins were incomplete. As a result, many news outlets and blogs suggested — and in some case, stated outright — that Mr. Collins engaged in voter fraud and Sen. Taylor and her mother aided him in doing so. In reality, Mr. Collins was not in state or county custody or under state or county supervision on April 5.”
Trudy said
Dec 6, 2011 at 8:26 PM
Flat out unethical to report only part of a statement. Shame on you, media trackers. If you were truly a news source, you do not need to hide parts of the facts to make your point. Your point would be made by the facts.
Kathy said
Dec 7, 2011 at 12:06 AM
Shame on you, shame on you. I hope that you folks are removed from the Sunday morning new shows. You are nothing but panderers and don’t deserve to use “media” in your name.