A Racine man, accused of signing phony signatures on state Senator Van Wanggaard recall petitions, has pleaded not guilty. Mark Demet allegedly signed the names of others onto petitions that he circulated. He’s been charged with two counts of election fraud and seven counts of identity theft.
The 59-year-old was offered a deal that included dropping the ID theft charges in a return for a plea to election fraud, but he’s rejected it. He will be back in Racine County Circuit Court mid-May.
Demet is also under investigation in Kenosha County, accused of doing the same thing, with one of the names being that of his dead father. No charges have yet been filed in that case.
Tom Karkow-WRJN