Voter Suppression Case Today

Update II: Judge tosses lawsuit challenging voter registration checks

Update: GAB opinion for Milwaukee Election Commission: Database mismatch insufficient basis to challenge and/or disqualify voters. HAVA does not authorize changing voter eligibility because of database mismatches.

The GAB opinion is significant because the Wisconsin Republican Party has signaled that it will challenge Milwaukee voters on election day, and many Milwaukee minorities lack currently updated drivers licences.

Obama brought out 1,000s of casually political blacks in the February primary.

The GAB opinion runs counter to the complaint by Attorney General Van Hollen and the Wisconsin GOP that is being argued today.
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The legal fight that is being heard today before a Dane County judge will draw the eyes of the nation's voting rights community on the issue of voter suppression and how the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) should be used by states.

At issue:

Whether the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board (GAB) has met its obligations to bring Wisconsin into compliance with state and federal election laws, including the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). Specifically, the Attorney General is seeking to require that the GAB run HAVA checks on voter registrations received prior to August 6, 2008. (Moritz Law).

The case will hinge on whether HAVA says what the Republican Party and Van Hollen interpret it to mean on the question of establishing the eligibility of voters vis a vis what the text of the statute reads and the GAB's interpretation.

Nationwide, the GOP is attempting to suppress Democratically leaning voters to stave off a landslide defeat, and is unquestionably attempting to use HAVA to this purpose.