Proposal Would Make Deliberate Misinformation On Voting Illegal

Supporters of a bill making it illegal to misinform people about voting are trying to move it forward in the state legislature.

The “Honest Elections Bill” would make it illegal to distribute false information about the time and place of elections, and about voting qualifications. Milwaukee Democratic state Rep. Mandela Barnes is a co-sponsor of the measure. He says he’s witnessed attempts at deception: “Instances where it’s been told to a person that they can vote on Wednesday because the lines on Tuesday were going to be too long, for the presidential election.”

Others, with the group Wisconsin Election Protection, say there were attempts to fool people into not voting during the 2012 gubernatorial recall campaign. Barnes says what he’s proposing would help all political parties, but so far Republicans controlling the state legislature seem more interested in other measures they say are needed to reduce voter fraud.

A Government Accountability Board spokesman says there is a state law dealing with misleading information at the polls, but otherwise declined comment on the Honest Elections Bill until seeing a draft of it.