Democrats demanded Thursday, April 12, that state elections officials disqualify a half-dozen Republicans running as fake Democrats in this spring's recall primary elections, saying the candidates lied about their party affiliation.
The Democrats' attorney, Jeremy Levinson, filed a complaint with the Government Accountability Board alleging that the state GOP has openly acknowledged the candidates aren't Democrats, but the candidates falsely claimed they were in papers filed with the board and on their nomination papers.
Levinson accused the candidates of committing election fraud. He called for the board to keep them off the ballot and open an investigation.
"The fraudulent candidates and the Republican Party of Wisconsin have explicitly acknowledged that, in fact, these fraudulent primary candidates are part of an effort to manipulate the electoral process in support of Republican incumbents facing recall," Levinson wrote.
State Republican Party spokesman Ben Sparks called the complaint a publicity stunt. He noted the accountability board knew Republicans used fake Democratic candidates in state Senate recall elections and still put them on the ballot.
"We're confident that each of the candidates will appear on the...ballot," Sparks said in a statement.
Accountability board spokesman Reid Magney said the board would address the complaint during a meeting Tuesday to set the ballots.
Democrats have forced Republican Gov. Scott Walker, Republican
http://www.twincities.com/politics/ci_20383560/wisconsin-democrats-challenge-fake-recall-candidates?source=rss
