McCain Allies Threaten to Disenfranchise Up to One Million Legitimate WI Voters Using Admittedly Impossible Standards

‘No List is Perfect’ Comment Illuminates Astounding GOP Hypocrisy

MADISON – John McCain’s state co-chair Attorney General JB Van Hollen last week used his state office and taxpayer resources to file a politically motivated lawsuit designed to disenfranchise up to one million voters and sway the election in favor of his candidate John McCain.

Just days after Van Hollen cited an imperfect list in filing his politically motivated suit to disenfranchise voters, the Republican Party of Wisconsin is now conceding that “no list is perfect” to explain a McCain mailer that directs voters’ absentee ballot requests to the wrong municipal clerks.

“The Republican hypocrisy on this is just astounding,” said Joe Wineke, Chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. “After filing a lawsuit that would potentially disenfranchise up to a million legitimate voters because of an imperfect list, the GOP is now conceding that ‘no list is perfect.’” (Source: La Crosse Tribune, 9.14.08)

Though Van Hollen has been in office for nearly two years, he waited until less than two months before the November election to file suit against the state’s Government Accountability Board.

Just days after the suit was filed, reports surfaced that the McCain campaign sent absentee ballot applications to hundreds of thousands of Wisconsin voters with misleading information. Republican Party of Wisconsin Executive Director Mark Jefferson responded to the mailing by saying, “You do the best with the lists you have, and no list is perfect.” (Source: WisconsinState Journal, 9.12.08)

”If the McCain campaign is to be taken at their word that this was an honest mistake and that ‘no list is perfect,’ then the McCain campaign must call on its state co-chairman J.B. Van Hollen to drop his baseless, hyper-partisan lawsuit,” Wineke said.

Van Hollen’s suit would essentially exploit honest mistakes like typos and clerical errors to challenge up to a million eligible Wisconsinites of their right to vote.  Meanwhile, Republicans are fabricating stories about widespread voter fraud in attempts to justify the baseless lawsuit.

“There is no voter fraud in Wisconsin, as Republican U.S. Attorney Steve Biskupic has already confirmed,” Wineke said.  “The latest stunt by Van Hollen and the Republican Party is just the beginning of what will be an orchestrated effort by Republicans this fall to keep people away from the polls and prevent eligible people from voting.”