Signs in Milwaukee Warning Felons on Parole Not to Vote Going Back Up

The signs warning felons still on parole to refrain from voting are going back up in Milwaukee polling sites.

The Milwaukee Election Commission posted the signs this morning but pulled them after state Elections Board executive director Kevin Kennedy informed the city only signs approved by the board can be posted. The signs had not been approved.

"Some people think they're intimidating. Some people think they're informative," Kennedy said.

The city started pulling sings, but Milwaukee County DA E. Michael McCann said the signs are now going back up.

McCann said police called an election hotline and were advised by Milwaukee County ADA Bruce Landgraf that the signs were lawful and could remain up. McCann said Landgraf spoke with Kennedy, who said the state was not ordering the signs be taken down.

McCann said Landgraf also spoke with U.S. assistant attorney Rick Frohling, the elections officer for the eastern district, who said that as long as the signs are city-wide, they may be lawful. He said he would check with Washington, D.C, on the matter.

McCann noted there have been problems with felons voting in Milwaukee and said his office recently charged a felon with voting who claimed he though the rule only applied to presidential elections.

McCann said most people know that felons can't vote, but in Wisconsin it applies only to felons who are on probation or parole. "The signs make that very clear," McCann said.

McCann said the last he heard, the signs were going back up.

Compared to past problems in the city, McCann said, this one "is a cakewalk."

-- By David Wise and JR Ross