Wisconsin
Ballot Facebook photo results in felony charge in Wisconsin
PORT WASHINGTON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin man accused of posting his marked election poll on social media has been charged with a felony that carries doable incarceration if he’s convicted in what a prosecutor calls a “take a look at case.”
Paul Buzzell, 52, of Mequon, appeared in Ozaukee County Circuit Court docket Monday the place a choose discovered possible trigger to proceed with the case and set a $500 signature bond.
In keeping with a prison criticism, Buzzell, a Mequon-Thiensville Faculty Board member, posted a photograph of his accomplished April poll on his Fb web page. It resulted in a voter fraud cost that features a most 3 ½ years behind bars and as much as $10,000 in fines upon conviction.
Ozaukee County District Legal professional Adam Gerol, a Republican, says he’s attempting to make use of the prison criticism to resolve a problem.
“You possibly can say it’s a take a look at case,” Gerol mentioned. “The very best factor that might come of this might be an appellate resolution as as to whether it violates the First Modification or not.”
There have been contradicting court docket rulings in different states following the 2016 election, together with in New Hampshire the place a federal choose held {that a} state regulation barring a person’s proper to publish their poll violated the First Modification. The U.S. Supreme Court docket refused to listen to an attraction of that ruling.
Wisconsin regulation says it’s unlawful for anybody to indicate a marked poll to anybody else or to position a mark on a poll that identifies it as that particular person’s poll. The state Senate in 2020 handed a invoice to legalize the taking of so-called poll selfies, however it died within the Meeting. County election clerks opposed altering the regulation, saying the ban is meant to guard poll secrecy. Neighboring Michigan modified its regulation in 2019 to legalize poll selfies.
Candidates for workplace in Wisconsin and others have sporadically posted images of their accomplished ballots through the years, in obvious violation of the regulation, however costs weren’t introduced.
Gerol mentioned that whereas the felony doesn’t essentially match the habits, a prosecutor can’t select the penalties to use. That’s as much as legislators.
“There’s better flexibility to resolve instances after they’re charged when the events would possibly comply with a unique statute to plead to for the sake of decision,” Gerol informed the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Mequon police contacted the Republican businessman concerning the publish primarily based on citizen complaints.
“Buzzell said that his understanding was that it was not unlawful to publish a photograph of a poll along with his title on it,” the criticism said.
A preliminary listening to has been scheduled for Dec. 15.
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