Last week Attorney General Van Hollen sued the Government Accountability Board (GAB) in an attempt to enforce a proposed rule that stands to disenfranchise thousands of voters.  The League of Women Voters of Wisconsin Education Fund released a statement Thursday strongly opposing the measure.  Many League members and friends have contacted us wanting to know what we are doing to respond to the lawsuit and how they can help.

The League is doing everything in our power to oppose this last-minute rule change which would lead to confusion for voters and election officials alike on a day when record numbers of Wisconsinites will go to the polls to exercise their right to vote. We are following and commenting to the media on the lawsuit and developing materials to help eligible citizens ensure their votes will be counted.  Below is a summary with several links  to help you understand the issue.  If you would like to support our work with a financial contribution, click here. 

The Attorney General's lawsuit claims an emergency rule is needed to bring the state into compliance with the Help America Vote Act (HAVA).  You can read his press release here and the lawsuit itself here. 

Although HAVA requires that the state have a voter registration database and that the matching take place for first-time registrants who register by mail, HAVA does not specify what the state must do about records that don't match. It does not require that voters with mismatches be relegated to a provisional ballot, and it certainly does not require that they be removed from the voter registration list.   Brennan Center 8-25-2008 Letter

The GAB has been doing the matching since August 6, 2008, when the matching capability of the database became functional.  GAB staff members report that more than 20% of the records checked so far have turned up problems.  In fact, in a test, the 6 retired judges who serve on the GAB found that 4 of their records failed the HAVA check.  At its August meeting, the GAB decided it is not in the best interest of the state to conduct the HAVA check retroactively on first-time, mail-in registrants who have registered since January 1, 2006, when HAVA went into effect. The Attorney General is seeking this retroactive cross-check, despite the fact that GAB staff and municipal clerks have said it would be impossible logistically.

The GAB responded to the lawsuit with this statement, in which it said: "The Board believes it would be counter-productive to rush this effort and to create a significant risk, at best, of unnecessary hardship and confusion at the polls, and at worst, the disenfranchisement of Wisconsin citizens with a clear and legitimate right to vote.”

News coverage includes stories in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Wisconsin State Journal, and numerous other newspapers, blogs and broadcast interviews.  Particularly interesting analyses can be found in Milwaukee Magazine’s Murphy's Law and today's Tomah Journal.  Wisconsin Public Television’s Frederica Freyburg covered the issue on her Friday evening program, “Here and Now,” where she interviewed Andrea Kaminski from the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin.  Click here to view the interview.  Andrea will be discussing the topic again on the Joy Cardin Show on Wisconsin Public Radio at 7:00 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 17.

The lawsuit will have a status conference Friday, Sept. 19, before Dane County Judge Maryann Sumi.  This will determine whether the case will move forward in expedited fashion, as the Attorney General has requested, be postponed to a later time, or be dismissed. 

In the meantime, the League of Women Voters encourages people to continue registering voters and preparing to vote in the election.  Democracy requires participation!