A former College Republican from DePere, Wis., has been charged with election fraud and faces a jail sentence of up to three-and-a-half years.

Marc P. Lacher, a St. Norbert’s alumnus, was charged Jan. 14 with voting illegally in the state of Wisconsin. Lacher used an old address to vote in Green Bay, although he currently resides in Illinois. Lacher said he believed he could vote using the previous address he resided at when attending college, according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

The State Elections Board’s policy requires proof that an individual intended to commit the crime before sentencing someone for fraud. The evidence of the case is currently being reviewed before sentencing. Lacher’s next court date is set for March 29.

Chris Lato, spokesperson for the Republican Party, said in no way does the incident represent Republican Party policies.

“If that person is found to be guilty, that person should be prosecuted and punished,” Lato said. “Democrat or Republican, we don’t support voter fraud in Wisconsin.”

However, Josh Morby, spokesperson for the Democratic Party, said Democrats do see the incident as typical of the GOP.

“Throughout the last election, Republicans were the ones who were out there talking about voter fraud,” Morby said. “The only documented case of actual fraud came from this person, who was a former member of College Republicans.”

Republican candidate for State School Superintendent Gregg Underheim faced similar heat in January, when Democrats accused him of using felons to gather signatures for his nomination papers. Though it was later proved two felons had been hired, Underheim denied he had any knowledge of their employment for his campaign.

“We did not knowingly involve felons in the process,” Lato said. “The Democrats don’t want to have a debate about the issues on this race. They know they are on the wrong side of the issues.”

Republicans stand firmly behind a new bill, which would require voter identification at the polls. Lato says this will greatly reduce the fraud exhibited during elections.

Democrats believe the voter-identification bill masks real problems and will only serve to disenfranchise people and decrease voter turnout.

“[Requiring an ID] makes it difficult for a number of constituencies to actually go and vote,” Morby said. “A lot of people don’t have IDs. We shouldn’t be discouraging people from participating in the electoral process. We should be finding ways to increase the number of people that vote.”

Lato contends it is not difficult for someone to show ID. All that is required is an ID with the voter’s name, and the bill will not require the voter’s address on the ID.

The voter ID bill is similar to one passed by the Legislature and vetoed by Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle in 2003.

The new version is expected to pass through the Republican-dominated legislature soon and once again receive a negative reception from Doyle.