This is my first diary so I apologize in advance for any and all screw ups...
Seems Republicans are worried that once again that they won't win Wisconsin, and rather than fight the good fight to try to win votes the RIGHT way, they are playing dirty pool...
Remember the diaries that have popped up the past couple of days about the McCain flyers with detachable applications for absentee ballots? Well, according to the Wisconsin State Journal:
The Wisconsin board that oversees elections is fielding complaints that Republican presidential nominee John McCain's campaign is sending out a mailing that includes an application for an absentee ballot - but in some cases the address is wrong. Kyle Richmond, a spokesman for the Government Accountability Board, said there have been 10 complaints in the past two days from those who got the McCain flier. The board's staff is investigating, he said. Absentee ballots may only be used in the locality where the person is registered to vote, he said.
http://www.jsonline.com/...
Of far greater concern, is Wisconsin Republican Attorney General J. B. Van Hollen's lawsuit against the state's Government Accountability Board. According to the Wisconsin State Journal:
The lawsuit against the state's election authority could lead to a spike in provisional ballots, which an election expert said greatly increases the chances of a fight after Nov. 4 over who won the presidential race in Wisconsin. Republican Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen sued the state this week to require more checks of voter information against driver's license records - a move that critics say could force people off the voter rolls and require them to cast provisional ballots. Provisional ballots are counted only when voters provide proof of residence by the next day.
If J.B. Van Hollen wins this suit, clerks will be required to compare voter information to drivers license records for those who registered to vote between 1/1/2006 and 8/5/2008. The problem? Ummmm... time:
Election clerks around the state say it would be impossible to run the checks in such a short time because of all the work it takes to determine why someone's data doesn't match. "The clerks obviously don't want voter fraud to happen, but you can't be unrealistic about putting all these things on clerks" at the last minute, said Mayville City Clerk Kathie Wild. State databases don't say why voters fail the matches, leaving clerks to track down whether it was caused by an innocent mistake or something more serious. Matching names in the databases is also difficult because until 2003 the state did not require voters to provide their birthdates. About 130,000 people now on voter rolls don't have their birthdates in the system.
The impact if this suit is successful? This will effect about 1 million Wisconsin voters.
About one in five voters fail the checks, often because of common errors such as missing middle initials or transposed numbers.
You do the math.
This apparently doesn't concern Van Hollen, because in the worst case, voters can cast provisional ballots, right? Well not so fast...
Department of Justice officials "sound a little foggy on who is entitled to cast a provisional ballot," said board spokesman Kyle Richmond.
People can cast provisional ballots in only two scenarios, he said. Those who register to vote for the first time by mail without providing proof of residence can cast provisional ballots if they don't have proof of residence with them when they show up to vote. Also allowed to cast provisional ballots are voters who have Wisconsin driver's licenses but cannot provide the license number when they register at the polls.
Others - such as those who want to register at the polls but do not have proof of residence or someone with them who can vouch for their address - cannot cast provisional ballots, according to the board.
Van Hollen, who co-chairman of the McCain campaign in Wisconsin claims that his party affiliation had nothing to do with his decision to file this suit, and that the only goal here is to clean up the statewide voter registration lists.
Sorry, J.B., I for one don't buy it. Your crusade to clean up the lists is bound to cause far more harm than good, and you damned well know it. This is nothing less than an effort to disenfranchise Wisconsin voters, and lay the ground work for a massive mess that could call into question the election results in Wisconsin.
Dan Tokaji, an associate law professor at Ohio State University's Moritz College of Law, said Van Hollen's lawsuit could cause a flurry of provisional voting. That would lead to disputes among lawyers and political parties over which provisional ballots should be counted if the presidential election is extremely close in Wisconsin, as it was in 2000 and 2004 when Democrats carried the state. "I don't see how anything productive is going to come out of this," Tokaji said. "You're increasing the likelihood of a post-election fight."
http://www.jsonline.com/...