Wisconsin Ethics Commission member Scot Ross appears to have committed election fraud when he tweeted a picture of his completed ballot Sunday evening. Under Wisconsin law, showing one's completed ballot constitutes election fraud and is a felony punishable by a maximum sentence of 3 1/2 years in prison.
"Tossed my Wisconsin absentee ballot in the mailbox today," he tweeted at 5:43 pm. "In addition to @Savion_C, I voted for @underlyforwi and for pro-term limits advisory referendum."
Ross attached a picture of his filled-out ballot, showing that he had indeed voted for Madison Metropolitan School Board candidate Savion Castro and for an advisory referendum on term limits.
According to Wisconsin Statute § 12.13(1)(f), one commits election fraud when he or she "shows his or her marked ballot to any person or places a mark upon the ballot so it is identifiable as his or her ballot." Wis. Stat. § 12.60(1) provides that "whoever violates...12.13(1)...is guilty of a Class I felony." Class I felonies carry a maximum penalty of 3 1/2 years in prison and $10,000 in fines upon conviction.
Ross deleted the tweet when "The Dan O'Donnell Show" called attention to its illegality Monday morning. Ross has not offered an explanation for the deletion.
A controversial appointment to the Ethics Commission by outgoing Senate Minority Leader Jennifer Shilling, Ross routinely tweets vile, profane screeds against Republicans and conservatives. Earlier this year, he potentially violated the First Amendment by encouraging a boycott of "The Dan O'Donnell Show" and other talk radio programs and contacting their advertisers on Twitter to pressure them to stop running ads on their programs.