At first glance, the headline linking to the press release sounds good:
Van Hollen Announces Department Of Justice Election Day Activities To Ensure Right To Vote And Compliance With State Election Laws
Something tells me , though, that Van Hollen will be sending his "inspectors" to select locations and will do very little to ensure our right to vote. When you read further, you see the real motive: sniffing out the phantom "voter fraud" he's been chasing for two years.
Van Hollen has been a huge disappointment to Wisconsin citizens. They thought they were electing an experienced, impartial top cop, but instead got "God's Cop", who gives the impression that he spends his work day stalking Democratic governor Jim Doyle, pressuring long-time civil servants to engage in unethical behavior, and devising schemes to suppress votes.
You may have read of Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen's recent unsuccessful lawsuit against the state board that regulates elections in Wisconsin. Van Hollen also happens to be the co-chair of the McCain for President effort in Wisconsin. His lawsuit was judged in the court of public opinion to be a wasteful, partisan effort to disqualify thousands of newly registered voters. Van Hollen lost in a Wisconsin circuit court - he was almost laughed out of court if you read the decision - and it appears he has taken so much criticism that he has decided not to waste more taxpayer money by appealing to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
Instead, he has taken up a new strategy. Here is the press release from yesterday outlining his plans to monitor certain polling places:
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
October 28, 2008
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MADISON – Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen announced today that as a part of his election integrity efforts the Wisconsin Department of Justice will be sending assistant attorneys general and special agents from the Division of Criminal Investigation to various locations around the state on Election Day (Tuesday, November 4, 2008), to ensure compliance with state laws governing elections.
These assistant attorneys general and special agents have been trained on election law, voting rights and the responsibilities and rights of election observers and are prepared to assist state and local election officials as well as law enforcement.
"An individual’s right to vote and have that vote counted is the foundation of our democratic system," said Van Hollen. "Citizens also have a right to vote in fair elections, untainted by election fraud. The Department of Justice is committed to ensuring that every citizen’s right to vote in a fair election is protected."
The Department of Justice will be working with district attorneys, law enforcement authorities, and state and local election officials across the state on election day. The department will also be working in Milwaukee county as part of an elections task force with the Milwaukee County District Attorney and the Milwaukee Police Department....
I'm guessing there won't be very many inspectors in Appleton, Wausau, or Rhinelander, but plenty in Milwaukee and Madison.
Hmmm. I wonder which side of this equation Van Hollen and his minions will focus on more:
"An individual’s right to vote and have that vote counted is the foundation of our democratic system," said Van Hollen. "Citizens also have a right to vote in fair elections, untainted by election fraud...."
Good luck, J.B. I hope you find that one little old black lady who got confused about her address so you can throw the book at her and write up more press releases about your unwavering fight against voter fraud. That will really help you in your reelection bid in two years - NOT!
Does anyone know a legal way to discover which polling stations will be overseen? Is it worth trying to get observers to watch the overseers?
UPDATE: Thanks to feduphoosier for the link to a Capital Times story
Here is the Democratic party response and some background on how this began:
Democrats accused the Wisconsin Republican Party on Wednesday of trying to intimidate voters by seeking people with military and law enforcement experience to watch Milwaukee polls on Election Day.
State GOP executive director Mark Jefferson called such claims ridiculous and said there was nothing wrong with asking volunteers with "a backbone" to work at challenging polling locations.
The controversy erupted after Barack Obama's presidential campaign obtained an e-mail in which a Republican Party employee asked for help recruiting volunteers to be "poll-watchers on Election Day at inner city (more intimidating) polling places."