3 candidates in town of Glenmore accused of falsifying nomination papers, according to complaints

GLENMORE — A candidate for town chairman has accused three candidates in Glenmore of giving false information about who collected signatures to support their nominations.

Steven Leiterman, who is the town’s election commission and a candidate for chairman, submitted challenge documents to the town clerk on Jan. 10. They were obtained by the Press-Gazette through an open records request.

Leiterman is running against incumbent town Chairman Ron Nowak. His nomination-paper challenges, however, pertain to two Town Board candidates and one town clerk candidate.

For Town Board candidate Nickolas Thompson, Leiterman claims that another supervisor candidate, Jason Pansier, collected signatures on Thompson’s behalf. Leiterman said that though Thompson wasn’t the one who collected the signatures on the third and fourth pages of his candidacy papers, his signature was still at the bottom of those pages saying that he did.

Thompson declined to comment.

In his challenge to Pansier, Leiterman claims Pansier collected signatures for Thompson, but didn’t sign that it was he who collected the signatures.

Pansier did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Incumbent Tom Ronk, Pansier and Thompson are running for two seats on the Town Board. Incumbent Tom Klika did not seek reelection.

Against town clerk candidate Dawn Matzke, Leiterman claims her husband, Dale Matzke, collected the signatures on the first and third pages of her nomination papers, but that Dawn Matzke signed her name as the collector of those signatures. Leiterman also submitted a challenge against Dale Matzke, who’s not running for a town office, that are similar to the allegations against Pansier; that Dale had collected the first- and third-page signatures but did not sign his name as their undefined. Matzke is running against incumbent Cindy Ossmann.

Leiterman’s challenges claim that these people violated Wisconsin’s state statute on petition requirements for candidates.

“I’m shocked,” said Dawn Matzke. “It was done in error. I’m very sorry about all of this because there was no malice at all.”

Both Leiterman and Matzke described disputes at town meetings for several months.

Leiterman claims some residents at the meetings have felt bullied and shut out of discussions. He said he felt it was time to “knock this off” and run for town chairman.

Out of what she called the “foolishness” during these town meetings, Matzke said she felt compelled to run for clerk after conferring with her husband.

To get on the ballot, the candidates submitted nomination papers with signatures from voting-eligible residents.

With her husband listening, Matzke described how the papers were in their truck on a blue clipboard. She said that while she was out for a few hours, her husband took the clipboard around to the neighbors, thinking he was being helpful, and collected signatures. Matzke said she’d already signed her name at the bottom as the circulator — the person collecting signatures on the nomination papers.

The circulator who signs and dates the bottom of the nomination papers must personally present the papers to a signatory, according to the instructions printed on the back of the nomination papers.

The instructions also warn “that the circulator is aware that falsifying the certification is punishable under [state statute] 12.13 (3) (a),” which carries Class I felony consequences.

“It should be so simple,” Leiterman said. “If these people can’t even read the directions so stated on the back of the paper, we’re screwed.” In his challenge document against Matzke, he noted that she used to be the town of Rockland’s clerk, “and is well aware of what these statutes are and how to fill out election forms.”

“I was a clerk years ago so things have changed since then,” Matzke said. “There’s really no reason to be a blowup about it.”

As an election commissioner, Leiterman said, several residents had come to him to ask if it was legal for people other than the candidates themselves to circulate nomination papers. Leiterman said he told them it is legal as long as the person collecting is the person signing at the bottom of the sheet.

“If I suspect fraud, I have to investigate” as an election commissioner, he said. He added, “If I’m not doing my job, I’m just as bad.”

Leiterman filed an open records request of all the nomination papers submitted, not just the ones he submitted challenges for, he said, and laid them out on a table to analyze the signatures.

He texted residents asking who came by their doors with nomination papers, some of whose messages Leiterman filed with his challenges as supporting evidence. In one accompanying text message thread, Leiterman asked if Matzke’s husband stopped by with nomination papers.

“Yes,” the resident’s text said. “For dawn [sic] and pansier [sic] which I feel is not right.”

Matzke said she takes “full responsibility” for her mistake, but said, “They’re making something bigger than it has to be. This is getting way blown out of proportion.”

Town Clerk Cindy Ossmann — running opposite Matzke — will decide the merit of Leiterman’s challenges once those accused submit their responses to the allegations by Jan. 13, as provided by the Wisconsin Elections Commission rules.

With the combined 61 pages of notarized challenge papers, candidate nomination papers, and affidavits from the circulators in hand, Ossmann said she will follow the guidance of the Wisconsin Elections Commission in making her judgment.

Jesse Lin is a reporter covering the community of Green Bay and its surroundings, as well as politics in northeastern Wisconsin. Contact him at 920-834-4250 or jlin@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: 3 town of Glenmore candidates accused of falsifying nomination papers

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