Milwaukee City Wire

Preliminary Milwaukee County election records show at least four felons ineligible to vote cast absentee ballots in the Nov. 3 general election between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joseph Biden.

The four include a convicted rapist, a convicted burglar and a man who served prison time for suffocating and strangling a woman, according to Department of Corrections and elections data obtained by the Milwaukee City Wire. 

County records show felons David L. Harmon, Corey J. Thomas and Marshall A. Winters requested absentee ballots and voted by mail. They show felon Kirk A. Jones, Sr. requested an absentee ballot, then cast it in person before Election Day. All four are currently under active community supervision and live in the city of Milwaukee.

The Milwaukee City Wire analysis was of absentee ballot requests and returns from felons in the city of Milwaukee living in a single zip code, 53209, on the city’s northeast side. The elections data includes pre-election day vote-by-mail requests and returns, but not Nov. 3 in-person voting, which is yet to be released by the Wisconsin Elections Commission.

According to the ACLU, persons with criminal felony convictions in Wisconsin can register and vote unless they are currently in jail or prison, or on probation, parole, or extended supervision for a felony, like Harmon, Thomas, Winter and Jones.

Harmon, 50, of 2739 W. Bobolink Ave. in the city's Thurston Woods neighborhood and 20th voting ward, was convicted of rape and sentenced to 20 years in prison in 1998. He's been out of prison since Jan. and on active community supervision.

According to county officials, the 20th voting ward voted 800-93 for Biden over Trump.

Thomas, 40, of 5565 N. 40th St. in the city's Old North Milwaukee neighborhood and 52nd voting ward, pled guilty to felony burglary in 1998 and felony throwing or discharging of bodily fluids at a public safety worker in 2018. He was released from prison in July and is under active community supervision.

Preliminary results show the 52nd voting ward voted 643-45 for Biden over Trump.

Winters, 46, 4747 N 19th Pl. in the city's Lincoln Park neighborhood and 58th voting ward, pled guilty to two counts of felony strangulation and suffocation as well as 4th degree sexual assault in 2013. He was released from prison in Nov. 2018 and is under active community supervision

Preliminary results show the 58th voting ward voted 602-25 for Biden over Trump.

Jones, 51, 5812 N 42nd St,  also in Thurston Woods but in the 22nd voting ward, pled guilty to second degree reckless endangerment in 2011 and served prison time.  He was arrested again for misdemeanor domestic abuse in 2018, sentenced to more prison time and remains under active community supervision.

County records show Jones applied for an absentee ballot on Oct. 27, received it on Oct. 27 and is reported to have returned it in person at the county on Oct. 27.

Preliminary results show the 22nd voting ward voted 612-81 for Biden over Trump.

This isn’t the first time there have been reports of ineligible Wisconsin felons voting. NBC News reports that the Wisconsin Elections Commission discovered 53 cases of ineligible felons voting, including one case in Eau Claire County, from the Nov. 2018 election. 

In a tweet on Twitter, Ben Wikler, chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, criticized Republicans complaining about voter fraud in the state.

“Unions fought back. Black Wisconsinites organized. Young people rose like a wave. The movement grew & grew—lifelong Democrats, new Democrats, and so many skeptical of both parties but ready for change,” Wikler’s tweet stated.

The Wisconsin Department of Corrections reported there are nearly 46,000 ex-convict felons in Wisconsin are no longer in prison as of April 2020 who are ineligible to vote as they are still on supervision.