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Wisconsin Ballot Layout Summary
General Overview
CALL TO ACTION: The Government Accountability Board must
immediately reverse course, returning back to an unbiased and
reasonable ballot layout to ensure impartiality and fairness in the
November election. Citizens should call the Government
Accountability Board at 608-266-8005 and demand action.
While attempting to re-configure Wisconsins ballot layout, the
GAB Staff engaged in a rogue crusade to create a ballot that drives
their politicized agenda.
The issues with the revised ballot layout epitomize the publics
distrust of the Government Accountability Board and their inept
ability to manage the elections process as a non-partisan
entity.
The GAB Staff has attempted to implement a deeply flawed and
confusing ballot layout that will lead to mass confusion for voters
across Wisconsin.
The Government Accountability Board was created to manage fair
and impartial elections. They have failed the people of Wisconsin
with this blatantly partisan behavior of ballot manipulation.
In a desperate attempt to disguise their true motive, the
Government Accountability Board employed a partisan liberal who
received $19,000 of taxpayer money to provide a stamp of
approval.
Background
The GAB is at it again, deliberately designing an unfair ballot
that blatantly benefits Democrats in every partisan election in
Wisconsin.
In their ill-advised attempt to revise the layout of Wisconsins
ballot, the GAB Staff led by Lead Elections Specialist Diane Lowe
took matters into their own hands and re-configured the layout of
the ballot without notifying the Legislature or key
stakeholders.
Without a public hearing or time to comment on proposed changes,
the GAB Staff has been immovable in its direction to County Clerks
to strictly adhere to the new ballot layout despite clear flaws in
the ballot design.
Despite raising questions and concerns regarding the new ballot
layout, County Clerks have been shut out by the GAB Staff and have
not been allowed any discretion in correcting the ballot layout
issues.
o When the Brown County Clerk sought approval for a ballot
layout that has been promoted as the gold standard of ballot
designs by industry groups, including the liberal-leaning Brennan
Center for Justice, Brown County Clerk Sandy Juno was chastised by
the GAB Staff who refused to approve a clear and impartial
re-designed ballot.
The GAB Staff has gone rogue in their poor attempt at
re-designing the Wisconsin ballot, and refused to admit their
strategic partisan agenda.
When concerns were raised regarding the ballot layout, the GAB
Staff immediately turned responsibility to supposed ballot design
expert Dana Chisnell of the Center for Civic Design (see more
below).
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Concerns
The revised ballot layout implemented by GAB Staff will mislead
voters across Wisconsin who may mistakenly identify which
candidates they can vote for.
The previous ballot layout clearly identified which candidates
were seeking which office by establishing a clear differentiation
between the office description and the candidates.
o Disturbingly, there is no separation between the office and
the first candidate, but there is a line that separates the
candidates from each other with the exception of the first
candidate.
o To be clear, each office listed is in the same box as the
first candidate. Other candidates on the ballot, beginning with the
second candidate, are contained within their own box.
o Not surprisingly, the first candidate in each election is a
Democrat.
More disturbing, down ballot offices are not clearly separated
from the previous office on the ballot.
o An industry-wide standard is to shade each office to clearly
identify which office each candidate is seeking shown below in an
example from the liberal-leaning Brennan Center for Justice.
However, the GAB Staff decided not to shade each office, which will
lead to concerns and confusion for voters from selecting a
candidate for each office (See on Next Page).
!Official Ballot for Partisan Office
and Referendum November 4, 2014
Notice to voters: This ballot may be invalid unless initialed by
2 election inspectors. If cast as an absentee ballot, the ballot
must bear the initials of the municipal clerk or deputy clerk.
Instructions to Voters Statewide (Cont.) Congressional If you
make a mistake on your ballot Attorney General Representative in
Congress or have a question, see an election Vote for 1 District _
inspector. (Absentee voters: Contact Candidate Vote for 1 your
municipal clerk.) (Democratic) Candidate
Fill in only 1 oval in each contest. Candidate (Democratic)
-To vote for a name on the ballot, fill in (Republican)
Candidate the oval next to the name like this . Thomas A. Nelson,
Sr. (Republican)
-To vote for a name that is not on the (Libertarian) Candidate
ballot, write the name on the line write-in: (Independent)
marked write-in, and fill in the oval Secretary of State
write-in: next to the name like this . Vote for 1 Legislative
Statewide Candidate State Senator, District _
Governor/ (Democratic) Vote for 1
Lieutenant Governor Candidate Candidate
Vote for 1 (Republican) (Democratic) You may fill in only 1 oval
for the office Candidate Candidate of Governor/Lieutenant Governor.
(Constitution) (Republican)
Candidate/ Andy Craig Candidate Candidate (Libertarian)
(Independent) (Democratic) write-in: write-in:
Candidate/ State Treasurer Representative to the Assembly
Candidate Vote for 1 District _ (Republican) Candidate Vote for
1
Dennis Fehr/ (Democratic) Candidate No Candidate Candidate
(Democratic) (Peoples Party) (Republican) Candidate
Robert Burke/ Candidate (Republican) Joseph M. Brost
(Constitution) Candidate (Libertarian) Ron Hardy (Independent)
write-in:_______________________/ (Wisconsin Green Party)
write-in: (Governor) Jerry Shidell Turn ballot over to continue
voting. write-in:________________________ (Libertarian)
(Lieutenant Governor) write-in:
Continue voting at top of next Continue voting at top of next
column. column.
Page 1 of 2-sided ballot Ballot continues on other side.
GAB-203msGOV General Election OS Ballot-OVALS 2014 General
Election (Rev. 2014-07-08)
GAB Design Governor/Lt. Governor
Brown County Design Governor/Lt. Governor
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Ballot Layout Expert and Partisan Liberal
Self-proclaimed ballot expert Dana Chisnell was hired by the GAB
and received $19,000 from Wisconsin taxpayers to oversee the
re-designing of Wisconsins ballot. Working mainly in
heavy-democratic states Massachusetts and California, Ms. Chisnell
is anything but non-partisan.
o The GAB spent taxpayer money to conduct a study for the
re-design of the ballot without notifying the Legislature.
When investigating Ms. Chisnell, it became abundantly apparent
that she holds extremely partisan political beliefs. And, Ms.
Chisnell is not holding her political views closely.
o Example #1: Unabashedly denoting her political beliefs, Ms.
Chisnell is a registered Democrat in her home state of
Massachusetts (see below for voter registration information).
o Example #1: On her public Twitter profile, Ms. Chisnell is
hugging a tree in her profile picture (code for embracing liberal
tendencies).
o Example #2: On August 21st, 2014, Ms. Chisnell posted a
picture of a piece of cardboard with the words: Freedom Fights for
liberty & freedom of all people
GAB Design - Flawed Design
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Re-designed Ballot:
Write In
Congressional
State
Represenative in CongressDistrict 1Vote for One
Jeff MillerRepublican
Bert OramDemocratic
Write In
Write In
Governor/Lieutenant GovernorVote for One
Jeb Bush / Frank T. BroganRepublican
Bill McBride / Tom RossinDemocratic
Attorney GeneralVote for One
Charlie CristRepublican
Buddy DyerDemocratic
Commissioner of AgricultureVote for One
Charles H. BronsonRepublican
David NelsonDemocratic
Robert Kunst / Linda MilkowitzNPA
County
County CommisionerDistrict 2Vote for One
Bill DicksonRepublican
Ron MeltonDemocratic
Yes
Nonpartisan
JudicialJustice of the Supreme Court
No
YesNo
YesNo
YesNo
YesNo
YesNo
YesNo
District Court of Appeal
Sample BallotOfficial General Election Ballot
Escambia County, FloridaNovember 5, 2002
Vote Fill in the Oval next to your choice Use only the marking
device provided or a number 2 pencil If you make a mistake, ask for
a new ballot To vote for a candidate whose name does not appear on
the ballot, fill in the oval next to the dotted line and write in
the name of the candidate.
Bonnie M. JonesSupervisor of ElectionsRoom 400, County
CourthouseTelephone: 559-3900
Shall Justice Harry Lee Anstead of the Supreme Court be retained
in office?
Shall Justice Charles T. Wells of the Supreme Court be retained
in office?
Shall Judge Robert T. Benton of the First District Court of
Appeal be retained in office?
Shall Judge Margueritte H. Davis of the First District Court of
Appeal be retained in office?
Shall Joseph Lewis, Jr. of the First District Court of Appeal be
retained in office?
Shall Judge Ricky L. Polston of the First District Court of
Appeal be retained in office?
Shall Judge William A. Van Nortwick, Jr. of the First District
Court of Appeal be retained in office?
The re-designed ballot includes our recommendation for the use
of fi ll-the-oval instead of complete-the-arrow response method.
Not all machines can read ovals.
Brennan Center Recommendation Proper Shading of each Office
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[sic] in the world. We must redefine democracy in the USA and
end the corporate state.
o Example #3: On July 31, 2014, Ms. Chisnell wrote on Twitter a
reference to supporting Hillary Clintons potential Presidential
candidacy by stating HILL.AR.Y.
o Example #4: On August 4, 2014, Ms. Chisnell wished President
Obama a Happy Birthday. While this is not incriminating on its own,
she has not wished any other elected official a Happy Birthday
including Republicans.
o Example #5: In February 2012, Ms. Chisnell started a
KickStarter campaign to fund a project that would help ensure voter
intent. However, her partisan political views quickly became
apparent when she wrote: In case youve been living under a rock and
have missed the news, 2012 is a big election year. We cant afford
to have this election decided by the courts. We need more funding
to get the guidance out to the right people sooner.
(https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/civicdesigning/field-guides-to-ensuring-voter-intent)
Highlighting her progressive achievements, San Francisco Mayor
Gavin Newsom appointed Ms. Chisnell to the Ballot Simplification
Committee from 2005-2009 she later received a commendation from the
San Francisco Board of Supervisors for her work in 2009.
Simply put, Dana Chisnell is a partisan progressive with an
agenda to help elect fellow progressives to office at all costs
including rigging Wisconsins ballot to help them.
Legal Overview GAB Circumvents Wisconsin Law
Wisconsin Statutes clearly states: No ballotmay be utilized in
this state unless it is approved by the board. The board may revoke
its approval of any ballotat any time for cause.
Furthermore, Wisconsin Statue 5.91 clearly defines the
requirements for ballots. Wisconsin Statute 5.91, Section (10)
requires all ballots be suitably designed for the purpose used and
Section (12) states a ballot can be utilized only if it minimizes
the possibility of disenfranchisement of electors as the result of
failure to understand the method of operation or utilization or
malfunction of the ballot
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Dana Chisnell: Partisan Liberal Ballot Expert
Example #1
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Example #2
Example #3
Example #4
Example #3