Liberal advocacy group One Wisconsin Now obtained recordings they claim prove a conspiracy between the Republican Party of Wisconsin and various Tea Party organizations to target students and minorities in a ""voter caging"" effort.
Scot Ross, executive director of OWN, which filed complaints with the Government Accountability Board and U.S. Attorney's office over the matter, said the kind of voter caging the groups planned to engage in entails sending out a mailing, and then compiling a list of those that were returned undelivered and using that as a means to challenge a person's right to vote.
""For college students that is particularly problematic, because you may live in the same municipality, but you've moved from your apartment,"" Ross said.
Shane McVey of the Eau Claire Tea Party did address students as a major factor during the meeting in June where the plan was discussed.
""One of the things to look at is cities and universities,"" McVey said. ""Students will come down in droves and then they will all vouch for each other.""
Tim Dake of the GrandSons of Liberty also discussed race as a potential hurdle for the plan.
""The other thing is you run into the racial thing. You have people screaming ‘Oh, you're denying minorities their right to vote.' No, we're denying their right to vote multiple times,"" Dake said.
Mark Block, state director of Americans for Prosperity, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that the group had sent out about 500 mailing, received only 10 back, and took no further action.
The transcript contains references to the RPW's involvement, but nobody from the organization actually spoke at the meeting. As for a conspiracy theory, ""that's about as thin as it gets,"" RPW spokesperson Andrew Welhouse said.
UW-Madison political science professor Charles Franklin said the argument over voter fraud and voter caging has been going on for a long time.
Although the parties have taken different sides on the issue, with Republicans more stringent and Democrats more lenient over voter fraud, both parties take their stances for their own political gains, Franklin said.
""Neither side much gives a damn about people's right to vote,"" Franklin said.
