Letter to the State Elections Board
March 11, 2002
State of Wisconsin Elections Board
PO Box 2973
132 E Wilson St, 2nd Fl
Madison, WI 53701-2973
I have brought my complaint before the State of Wisconsin Elections Board because of the chance it could help cultivate a genuine change in how our elected leaders choose to govern us. I believe our leaders, their staff and the major political parties have taken advantage of the citizens. In the years I have been in the inner circles of politicians and politics, I have become very aware of a culture that believes anything is okay in the pursuit of winning, and those involved seem to have an infinite capacity for rationalization. If they should get caught, they just ‘spin’ their way out of it.
Abraham Lincoln once asked, “How many legs does a dog have if you call the tail a leg? Four. Calling a tail a leg doesn't make it a leg.” They can try to say the data was just ‘public information,’ say everyone was just ‘volunteering,’ or make any of their other ludicrous claims—but it is still a ‘tail.’ I was there, and I know the truth.
With the activities I have described, and those brought to light by the media, it is no wonder why it is so difficult to defeat incumbents. Essentially, much of government is used as their secret campaign machine, giving a distinct advantage to those who control it. Our elected leaders have everything to gain from the status quo, but the citizens have everything to loose. This system has a destructive impact on one of the most fundamental promises of a democracy—fair and equal elections.
In the nineteenth century, An English painter named Samuel Palmer said, “Wise men make proverbs, but fools repeat them.” I think something like this applies to Elections Boards as well. If these activities are not seriously dealt with, it will be taken as a sign that this behavior will be tolerated. And the behavior will be repeated because there is no incentive to change.
I urge the Board to conduct a thorough and complete investigation of the charges I have brought, and to deal with this situation in a way that is truly meaningful and that will help return the kind of integrity to Wisconsin government that was previously so celebrated. But if the Board fails to do this, there is still a second chance, because in the hands of the voters lay the power of all possibilities.
Sincerely,
Donald Fish