Edward J. Frami, 49, of Dousman, Wisconsin, who was a co-founder of the former U.S. Taxpayers Party of Wisconsin now Constitution Party of Wisconsin, died on September 12, 2003 6:10 pm CDT at Oconomowoc Memorial Hospital. Mr. Frami suffered an "Acute Hypertension Aneurism" (massive stroke) on September 2 and his health deteriorated as the damage spread throughout the right hemisphere of his brain, leading to his death.

Ed was a bachelor who lived in the family home with his mother, Clare Frami. He graduated from Carrol College in Waukesha, WI in 1975 with a B.A. in Political Science and Speech Communication. He spent several years working in retail management and as a production manager for a south-east Wisconsin manufacturing firm before leaving the corporate world.

Prior to the stroke Ed was currently serving as the First Vice Chairman for the Constitution Party of Wisconsin, the Vice Chairman of the Constitution Party National Committee and as chair of National's Standing Platform Committee and the Campaign Strategies Committee. He also served on the National Executive Committee.

Ed was the first Chairman of the U.S. Taxpayers Party of Wisconsin and served in that position from 1993 until 2000. He helped draft the organization's Constitution and By-laws, as well as the State Party Platform.

The early days of the USTP of Wisconsin led to the publication of a newsletter called "The Sling", named for David's defeat of Goliath. In the August 1994 edition Ed wrote "We are under no delusions about the prospects of new party candidates. They inevitably start out under funded and undermanned, but we won't let that stop us. We are running because it is the right thing to do. We are responsible for trying to raise the standards by which our government operates. Whether we succeed or not is in God's hands."

Ed's first political race was a 1994 bid for the office of Governor in Wisconsin with Michael O'Hare as Lt. Governor. Together they declared "We are not Robin Hood politicians. We will not rob from the taxpayer and give to the special interests." The Frami/O'Hare ticket received 9,188 votes on a meager $5000 budget.

Ed again ran for Governor in 1998 and in 2002 he ran his first full-fledged campaign for the Secretary of State office. During his campaign Ed raised over $40,000 dollars and received 34,750 votes.

Most recently Ed, with the help of Cal Zastrow and Bob Bernhoft, went head-to-head with the Wisconsin State Elections Board over statutes that required petition circulators to be residents of the political district of the candidate who is seeking ballot access.

As a result of their motion in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, the Court specifically found that the residency requirement in ss.8.15(4)(a) and 8.40(2), Stats., to the extent it limits nomination paper circulators to persons who are residents of the district in which they circulate, is unconstitutional and the [Elections] Board is enjoined from enforcing it.

The Board's own legal counsel had this to say in a May 21, 2003 memo to Board members. "Given the direction of the federal courts, finding unconstitutional residency and registration (and other restrictive) requirements imposed by state law on the circulators of both nomination papers and other petitions for an election or recall, the Board’s staff believes that the Board should apply s.8.40, Stats., consistent with those decisions and uphold petitions that result in an election, notwithstanding that those petitions have been circulated by a non-resident circulator."

Because of the vision and efforts of Ed Frami, candidates from all political parties now have greater access to the voter ballot in Wisconsin.

Ed is survived by his mother Clare and three brothers Michael, Matthew and Steven. He was preceded in death by his father Forrest and brother Charles.

Ed will lay in state on Wednesday, September 17 from 3:00pm to 7:00pm at Pagenkopf Funeral Home on Hwy 67 (Summit Ave) in Oconomowoc. There will be a memorial service at the Funeral Home at 7:00pm.