The Government Accountability Board, which oversees elections in Wisconsin, decided Tuesday to require clerks to perform retroactive checks on the information on voter registration forms.
Voter registrations have been the topic of a controversial lawsuit Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen filed against the GAB this fall. Van Hollen claimed that by failing to make clerks check registrations dating back to Jan. 1, 2006, the GAB is violating the Help America Vote Act.
After losing in the Dane County Circuit Court, Van Hollen chose to continue his case and filed for appeal Friday.
However, the Board's decision Tuesday may result in the execution of Van Hollen's request for registration checks.
According to Bill Cosh, communications director for Van Hollen, the attorney general is happy the Accountability Board is taking steps to perform these checks and comply with the law, but their actions do not mean the lawsuit is resolved.
He said until the voter checks are performed, the GAB is still not in compliance with HAVA.
We will pay close attention to the next steps the GAB takes, but as of this time, the lawsuit is not moot by [Tuesday's] decision,"" Cosh said. ""At a minimum, the checks still must be performed, and that has not happened.""
Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Joe Wineke said in a statement the GAB has the authority to decide when and how to perform the checks, and Van Hollen was wrong to bring the suit against them.
""The GAB's decision does not validate Van Hollen's lawsuit but instead proves that his hyper-partisan attacks on the non-partisan GAB were unfounded,"" Wineke said.
Kirsten Kukowski, communications director for the Republican Party of Wisconsin, said the RPW is happy with the Board's decision.
""We wish it had been done prior to the election, but it still is a win for people who want to see clean and fair elections here in Wisconsin, so we think it's a step in the right direction,"" she said.
