gwendt "when i was in traffic school many years ago -the instructor said ,if everyone who broke a traffic law reported to the police station, it would create a line more than a mile long !! Chaos would be rampant!!
Even the Bible teaches forgiveness!!
But it seems like these self-righteous people would still throw stones."

You took the words right out of my brain. Man.. i can hardly wait to see what self-righteous looks like in another 10 years..

This sounds just like what my friend from Chicago used to say, WE vote early, often and even if we are dead!! this woman should be prosecuted, there is so much voter fraud that doesn't get caught, here is someone who is admitting to it! She should lose her right to vote again!

If she voted absentee and then voted in person thinking the machine would reject it, that sounds very much like voter fraud. Not to mention that by voting twice, this woman just cancelled out my vote or yours. I wonder if she was tempted to vote again by the ACORN crowd and their freebie give away incentives?

Sure, this lady seems to have done no wrong, she did come forward of her own volition it seems. But would it make a difference if she was advised to vote twice by some political operative of one party or the other? No, the story doesn't say anything about that, but how do we know if we don't investigate? If there were someone connected to a party that told her she could do this erroneously, should there be a prosecution, not of the lady since she came forward but of the operative? I realize that an illicit vote has no apparent monetary value, but has it no value at all so that we need not protect ourselves against them? If the vote fraud were massive, should we throw up our hands in defeat since the problem seems too big to deal with? Would some who downplay this think the same if their candidate had lost?

when i was in traffic school many years ago -the instructor said ,if everyone who broke a traffic law reported to the police station, it would create a line more than a mile long !! Chaos would be rampant!!
Even the Bible teaches forgiveness!!
But it seems like these self-righteous people would still throw stones.

To what end? What would make all of you rabid law-abiding citizens happy? Her head on a platter? What if she decides to plead innocent, demand a lawyer, and a trial? Would you be happy if she invoked her RIGHTS and cost the taxpayers the cost of a trial? Is it worth it?

Although this double voting would not have changed the results, I think that it would be important to prosecute or change the law.

kcole- I think April Fools Day would be more appropriate.

Like they say in Illinois - "Vote early and vote often!"
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"Edna Byrd said she thought poll workers would turn her away or the machine wouldn't accept her ballot since she had voted absentee. " Seems to indicate it wasn't just a matter of whether she couldn't remember voting via absentee ballot. But, it could also just be a typical error on the part of the reporter writing the story. As is so often the case, we rarely ever are given all the facts of the situation.

If there were a mechanism in place to void an absentee ballot if the voter voted in person too, then why would this even be a newsworthy item? Why didn't Assistant Milwaukee County District Attorney Bruce Landgraf say that the absentee ballot is voided and no crime has been committed since he certainly knows the law? Instead he said that there was no criminal intent, which implies that a law was indeed broken, an implication made by a man who should know.
This story sure does call into question the intent of all those early voting drives, doesn't it? I can see it all now. Hundreds, perhaps thousands of early voters showing up on Election Day casting another vote with the ready excuse that they thought their early vote would be automatically voided by the mistake-proof election system, and with so many duplicate voters, no D.A. will over burden his office to investigate, let alone prosecute.
Maybe we need U.N. observers at our elections after all.

Mikki, felons who have completed all portions of their sentence including parole or probation MAY VOTE in Wisconsin.
http://www.rockthevote.com/electioncente...
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As stated, there are times when people vote twice, through confusion or accident. The existing safeguards in the system -- where absentee ballots are generally not counted until the end of Election Day, and treated as if the person is showing up at that point to vote -- usually prevent accidental or intentional double votes. In Byrd's case, her absentee ballot had not been counted, so she may have turned one in, but it didn't actually get recorded before she appeared in person.
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Byrd's stated intent was to test the system and because of the way she reported the incident she will not face charges. In general someone who does this, even if it's detected after the fact, would not face charges either. This is a problem that barely exists.

I think that Election Day should be held on April 16th. That would remind our politicians of where all that money comes from.

each polling place is provided a list of fellons who live in their district, so it is checked when the person comes in to register to vote, OR if they are registered, it is noted in the computer system, and they are not printed on the poll list. due to the newer software the state is using for voting, people will be caught if they try to vote in more than one location.

I wonder how much the votes are really checked. How many felons vote? How many people vote twice? Would be interesting.

howardzinn you are correct. i used to work in the county clerks office. that is how it is handled. this happens more than you would think...

Also, if her intentions were to change her vote since she cast her absentee ballot, then why didn't she indicate that to the poll workers? Again, she her actions did not match her intent. All of us would like to rewind our actions to avoid penalty, by changing our intentions. Nice legal system.

I think all this pre-voting and absentee voting is part of a growing complexity in the process. Additionally, limitations on voter ID and electronic tracking cause further problems. I think the date of the Presidential election should be a national holiday. Individuals should vote in person and should have to should some identification and then dip their thumb in blue ink to indicate they have voted and prevent them from voting again.

One of many across the country I'm sure

Maybe this woman was told, like we were, that your absentee ballot (they said they couldn't call it early voting) wouldn't be counted until after voting was over in case you changed your mind for whatever reason. Maybe she, like me, was a bit afraid that my absentee ballot might not be counted (and apparently she would have been correct).
Maybe the fear of what might happen if she was caught and the thought of going down in the annals of history with the likes of Al Capone, Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, or George Bush made her come clean.
I think they ought to make an example of her. Cut off her voting hand.

If her absentee ballot had already been processed (correctly), then she would have already been assigned a voter number with an "A" added onto the end. When she showed up, she would be informed that her ballot had been cast and she would not be allowed to vote in person.
If her absentee ballot had not been processed when she voted, then the absentee ballot would not be processed when they saw that her name already had a voter number in the rolls. A note would be made in the incident report and the ballot would be placed in an envelope for unprocessed absentee ballots, unopened.
It is perfectly legal in Wisconsin to vote by absentee but then show up to the polls to vote. A person could change their mind or could decide to vote for offices or referendums that they didn't have an opinion on when they filled out their absentee ballot. If the poll workers are doing their job correctly, such a person would still only have ONE ballot cast.
This story needs more information. Did both of her ballots truly get cast or is her absentee ballot sitting unopened somewhere as it should be? If both of her ballots were cast, how and why did the poll workers mess up? Why did she attempt to vote at the polls despite submitting an absentee ballot? If she was intentionally trying to cast two ballots that is one thing, if she simply changed her mind or became more educated about candidates or referendums then she committed no crime.

I guess I don't understand why she went to vote on election day if she had already voted absentee. It doesn't sound like she had any ill intentions, but who knows.

Just goes to show you some votes count TWICE and the elections are fair, right???

Igonorance is not a form of defense. Period. You sound just like attorney. She committed a crime, but it wasn't a bad crime. It doesn't let you off of the hook, if it is a small crime, the penalty often fits the offense. However, to not offer any penalty reduces the rule of law and order.

Ummm....if she knew she filled out the absentee ballot then why did she go vote on Tuesday? She told them she didn't think it would go through. So why even try? It's not like she forgot she filled out the absentee ballot! Kinda weird.

Don't be ridiculous localboy! She made a silly mistake and wanted to make it right. You act as if she should be put on death row. We all commit crimes (speeding, rolling through a stop sign, failing to use our turn signals). I don't think this crime warrants your comments.

It is my understanding that if you voted absentee and then went to the polls to vote on Nov. 4 your Nov. 4 ballot will count as long as your absentee was not processed yet. Your absentee ballot would then be voided and not be allowed to be processed. Therefore, a person who voted absentee could change their mind by Nov. 4 and could vote over again. If your absentee ballot was already processed then you would not be allowed to vote. I think I read this in a Gazette article a couple weeks ago. Does anyone else remember reading it?

You have to be kidding. So if I commit a crime, but I turn myself in quickly and say I didn't mean it, can I be let off?

What is the purpose of laws, if we do not enforce them? WOW!!!!

I need to move to Milwaukee. They must be more lax there.

nice....who did she vote for? and how many other ones did this that DIDNT turn themselves in????