A 34-year-old West Allis man who blamed depression and anxiety for voting twice in the 2012 presidential election was sentenced Wednesday to 90 days in jail as a condition of 18 months probation. The sentence was less than a prosecutor recommended, but more than the fine recommended by Todd M. Murray's lawyer, who argued that Milwaukee County is harshly out of line with the rest of the state in resolving cases of double voting.

Circuit Judge Joseph Donald said it didn't matter that Murray's extra vote didn't affect any electoral outcomes. It's still a serious offense that affects everyone else who counts on the principle of one person, one vote. A sentence without jail time, Donald said, would depreciate the nature of the crime.

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His attorney, Charles Blumenfield, commissioned an analysis of every double-voting case in Wisconsin since 1991. It showed only four cases of 19 resulted in jail time, and all were in Milwaukee County. Assistant District Attorney Bruce Landgraf pointed out that many of the outstate cases involved proof problems, had been reduced to misdemeanors or involved older or brain-injured defendants. He noted that no other county besides Milwaukee has ever had more than one double voting case.

Landgraf agreed that Murray came to court with positive social attributes, but also noted that the typical double-voting defendant in Milwaukee County had similar demographics — suburban male, educated, not politically active, with a good job and no criminal past.