By Christa Dankert
One Wisconsin Now
Fears regarding voter fraud were one of the greatest plagues upon the 2008 presidential election. The tension of the months preceding the election intensified when the national attempt to exterminate the non-existent voter fraud problem began to stir up frenzy.
I wonder, is all of this chaotic fear justly precautionary or cynically foolish? Wisconsin's Attorney General, J.B. Van Hollen, vehemently sides with the former. On Sept. 10, Van Hollen filed a suit against the Government Accountability Board requesting that all registered voters in Wisconsin as far aback as January 2006 to be cross-listed with other databases to protect the electorate rights and have your vote matter"".
Who's vote is this exactly? It definitely won't protect my vote.
I am a 22-year old female college student who voted in every state and national election since I was 18. I also moved within the Madison area six different times during my college career while formally retaining residence in my hometown, according to my driver's license. So what does that mean? Not only would my change of address result in a failing grade on Van Hollen's exam, but there is also a chance that my middle initial may or may not have been included in registration for any one of those elections, yet another red flag for the inquisition.
Here is another wild thought: Women often change their surnames when married. Oh what trouble I would be in if someone had put a ring on my finger in the last two and a half years, or worse yet, if I had married and then hyphenated said name. This is of course nothing to say of American soldiers stationed overseas, study abroad students, or other clerical error victims, which, little-known fact, would include four of the six GAB judges.
Had Van Hollen's cause been endorsed I am sure there would have been a knock on my door. But I am only one of some 40,000 UW-Madison students, 3,000,000 Wisconsin women, 5 to 6,000,000 Wisconsinites total; one million of who GAB estimated would be checked. Could you imagine, if nothing else, the cost of not only performing these cross checks, but the follow up, investigation, and manpower required for every person whose name and address showed any sign of incompatibility?
The real deal-breaker, however, is that it would be our taxes paying for this. Essentially I would pay someone to unnecessarily re-verify that I am the same person should I utilize my middle initial as well as a college student who didn't want to live in the same dorm room for five years. I must pay to prove that I am not a criminal; that I am not potentially and willingly voting fraudulently. I know I'm not the one who went to law school, but that sounds a little backwards, no?
Thankfully, Van Hollen's case was thrown out of court on Oct. 23 on the grounds that his suit was outside of both his authority as well as the court's, considering the Help America Vote Act does not require this data match and that the U.S. Attorney General is charged with enforcing these parameters, not Van Hollen.
Nonetheless, his crusade is relentless. Upon dismissal of his lawsuit Van Hollen sent 50 assistant attorneys to state polling locations to ensure (syn: intimidate) the electorates, guaranteeing ""fair and just elections."" The brain is tempted to freeze-dry itself when contemplating all the problems this situation encompasses, crumbling at the feet of powerful men like John Doe's civil rights and voters' ballots when shredded by the scrupulous deliberation over his middle initial.
The mind thaws and the wheels of suspicion begin to turn when we remember that Van Hollen was also McCain's campaign co-chair in Wisconsin. Why? Here are some facts: 23 percent of the elderly population is without valid driver's licenses. Minorities would suffer the most with 53 percent of African-Americans without IDs and 47 percent of Hispanics compared to the less staggering 15 percent of white adults. America's youth demonstrates greater risk with 29 percent of young adults lacking valid identification. Thus, Van Hollen's tactics aimed to disenfranchise primarily minorities and the poor, largely democrat strongholds.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel recently reported on the current Milwaukee County investigation regarding 10 cases of potential fraud, unleashing the true voter fraud myth challenger. With five cases already dismissed, even if the remaining five prove exceptional cases of voter fraud, 5 votes of nearly one million, .0005 percent, are not nearly enough to throw an entire election. Perhaps facts, not fear, will return the minds of the American voting population to their normal, less hysterical, state of pandemonium.
Christa Dankert is a senior majoring in English and Italian. Please send responses to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
