Some McCain fliers give wrong ballot mailing info

Associated Press

Last update: September 13, 2008 - 6:43 AM

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MADISON, Wis. - The Wisconsin board that oversees elections is fielding complaints that Republican presidential nominee John McCain's campaign is sending out a mailing that includes an application for an absentee ballot — but in some cases the address is wrong.

Democrat Beverly Jambois of Middleton got one of the fliers addressed to her husband Robert, a lawyer for the state Transportation Department. They're registered to vote in Middleton, but the absentee ballot application was addressed to the Madison city clerk's office.

"They're trying to knock me off the rolls," she said. "I can't tell you how upsetting it is to me. This is how you win elections? By disenfranchising other voters?"

Kyle Richmond, a spokesman for the Government Accountability Board, said there have been 10 complaints in the past two days from those who got the McCain flier. The board's staff is investigating, he said.

Absentee ballots may only be used in the locality where the person is registered to vote, he said.

Mark Jefferson, executive director of the state Republican Party, denied there was any intent to prevent people from voting. The wrong absentee ballot applications were the result of incorrect information in databases used for the mailing, he said.

"You do the best with the lists you have, and no list is perfect," Jefferson said. "There is certainly no type of suppression effort going on."

He said the mailing was directed to hundreds of thousands of voters.

Local clerks now are processing absentee voting applications. The absentee ballots aren't sent until about four weeks before the election.

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Information from: Wisconsin State Journal, http://www.madison.com/wsj

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