Below are two articles/blurbs about today’s hearing. Nothing was settled, instead the judge will rule next week on whether or not AG Van Hollen can act as a plaintiff against the GAB, according to Wendy Strout, of the Civic Engagement Project. 

Mary Wilson, LWVUS President, Pegi Taylor, Co-Producer of My Vote Performs, and Andrea Kaminski, LWVWI Executive Director, will be on the Kathleen Dunn show on Wisconsin Public Radio Ideas Network on Monday, Sept. 22, from 10:00-11:00 a.m.  They will be talking about the upcoming Making Democracy Work Summit and election-related issues.  The registration deadline is for the Summit is Monday.  Don't miss this chance to hear from Mary Wilson and other local and national experts about elections and other timely issues.  Register online here. 

WisPolitics:

Hearing on motion to disqualify Van Hollen from GAB suit set for next week
9/18/2008
By Andy Szal
WisPolitics.com

Dane County Judge Maryann Sumi will consider a motion Wednesday to disqualify Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen from acting as the plaintiff in his suit against the Government Accountability Board.

Van Hollen has asked the court to issue a summary judgment on his behalf in the suit, but attorneys for both the Department of Justice and the GAB agreed that the motion to disqualify Van Hollen must be decided first. Madison attorney Lester Pines, appointed to represent the GAB in the suit, argued in his motion this week that Van Hollen may not sue the board while representing them in two other cases.

Sumi did not rule on any motions pending in the case today.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinal
Aide won't say if Van Hollen consulted GOP

By Patrick Marley and Steven Walters

Madison - A top aide to Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen refused to say today whether Van Hollen consulted with Republican officials before suing the state's election authority.

"The attorney general does not use any consultation with any political party or interest group to determine whether an action is appropriate," Van Hollen aide Kevin St. John told reporters.

But he refused to say whether there were any talks with officials from the state Republican Party or the presidential campaign of U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona.

"This is not a coordinated lawsuit. I can say that absolutely," St. John said.

But Lester Pines, an attorney for the board that oversees state elections, said St. John's comments suggested there was some level of cooperation.

"That's a refusal to answer the question," Pines said. "He could have said yes or no, but instead he chose not to answer."

Van Hollen filed his suit two weeks after the Government Accountability Board refused to follow a Republican Party recommendation that it perform detailed checks on hundreds of thousands of voters.

Today's comments came after a Dane County judge set a Wednesday hearing on whether Van Hollen should be disqualified from suing the Government Accountability Board. The board says he can't sue the board because he already represents it in other legal matters.

Van Hollen says there is no conflict.

The hearing will also determine whether the state Democratic Party and a coalition of labor unions can intervene in the case, Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi ruled.

Pines also questioned whether the case can be resolved by the Nov. 4 election. Van Hollen has said it is essential to rule as quickly as possible so the checks can be run before then.

The federal Help America Vote Act of 2002 required states to create voter databases that could make sure voter information matches data in Department of Transportation records. The databases were supposed to be ready by Jan. 1, 2006, but Wisconsin's wasn't fully functional until last month because of technical glitches.

The state started running the checks on Aug. 6. About one in five voters fail the checks, often because of typos or slight variations in names.

Van Hollen's suit demands that the state run the checks for those who registered or changed their addresses between Jan. 1, 2006 and Aug. 5, 2008. The two sides disagree over whether Van Hollen is asking for all those voters - about 1 million people - or only the 241,000 voters who filed paperwork by mail or with special registration deputies working for groups trying to get out the vote. Van Hollen also says the board must remove ineligible voters, but he hasn't defined what should disqualify one from voting.

Local election clerks say it would be impossible to make all of those checks before the Nov. 4 election.