Today is special election day in Wisconsin and a number of Republican state senators are facing the very real threat of being removed from office in retribution for their accommodation of Scott Walker's, and senate leader Scott Fitzgerald's, lust for union-busting.
To combat this threat, Republican henchmen in Wisconsin are pulling out all the stops today. Some are even engaging in patently illegal activity such as sending out deceptive robocalls which tell people they don't need to vote.
Local news blog WI Voices reported that registered Democrats have been receiving recorded calls, claiming to be from a Right to Life group. The recorded call instructs them that they don't need to go to the polling place to vote, saying, “You don’t need to worry. Your absentee ballot is in the mail.”
Today is the last day polling places will be open for the Democratic primary, however, so absentee ballots that have not reached their intended recipients, or completed absentee ballots that are put in the mail today will not be counted.
"This robocall is illegal activity and election fraud at its worst," WI Voices wrote. They note that the calls have been coming from phone number 703-410-3201, and warn to look out for 703 area codes.
Another Wisconsin blog, Blue Cheddar, pointed out that googling that same number brings up online complaints from people getting robocalls from "Joe the Plumber" telling them to support Scott Walker last March.
In addition to illegal robocalling, Republicans in Wisconsin are also engaging in the unethical activity of running fake-candidates in Democratic elections and instructing their constituents to support the fake candidate.
The St. Croix County Republican Party is encouraging Republicans to vote for a fake Democratic candidate in Tuesday's 10th Senate District primary election, according to the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel.
Isaac Weix is one of six fake Democratic candidates who entered the race to force Democratic primary elections in Wisconsin.
County GOP chairman Jesse Garza urged Republicans in an email sent Sunday to support Weix, a Republican, who is running against Democrat Shelly Moore.
Today is only the first round of the recall campaign, so this is more than likely just a taste of the kind of fraudulent tactics the Republicans plan to unveil.
I can only imagine what they have planned for next November.