RPW-DOJ Communication Requires McCain Co-Chair Van Hollen Drop Partisan Voter Disenfranchisement Lawsuit

MILWAUKEE — New media reports that the top aide to Wisconsin Republican Attorney General had “multiple conversations” with the head of the state Republican Party over a partisan voter disenfranchisement lawsuit filed by DOJ require Van Hollen drop the suit immediately, according to One Wisconsin Now.

Both Van Hollen and his aides had previously denied contact with Republican officials, but now numerous discussions have been revealed between RPW’s top officers and DOJ aides, including with Deputy Attorney General Ray Taffora, Van Hollen’s top lieutenant.

“Van Hollen has turned the Wisconsin Department of Justice into the taxpayer-financed legal arm of the Republican Party of Wisconsin and the McCain for President campaign,” said Scot Ross, Executive Director of One Wisconsin Now.
“The public is not going to stand by and let JB Van Hollen use our tax dollars to take away our voting rights.”

Van Hollen, the co-chair of John McCain’s presidential campaign in Wisconsin, filed suit against the state’s Government Accountability Board after complaints by the RPW. The partisan lawsuit is in Dane County Court tomorrow and if successful, hundreds of thousands of legal voters could be dropped from the voting rolls.

“Van Hollen’s partisan lawsuit will create chaos on election day and prevent Wisconsinites from exercising their Constitutionally-protected right to vote,” said Ross “Wisconsin already meets the requirements of the Help America Vote Act – the only threat is from Van Hollen, whose actions even put at risk the votes of soldiers fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

The orchestrated lawsuit by Van Hollen would allow people to be dropped from the voter rolls and be forced to cast provisional ballots because of simple clerical errors or the omission of a middle initial. In fact, four of the six judges on the GAB failed a complete match against the voter data.

In August, municipal clerks testified to GAB that the Van Hollen standard would compromise efforts to run fair and clean elections this November. Among other problems, Van Hollen’s actions could prevent absentee ballots from being sent overseas to Wisconsin soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“Even Katherine Harris would be embarrassed to pull what Van Hollen is trying,” said Ross. “Van Hollen has disgraced the state and violated the people’s trust.”