Van Hollen appeals voter suit

by Alex Brousseau

Monday, November 10, 2008 00:00

Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen filed for an appeal Friday after losing his case against the Government Accountability Board two weeks ago over voter registration checks.

Van Hollen filed his lawsuit against the GAB in mid-September over their decision to check new voter registrations after August 2006 rather than going back to January 2006 as specified by the Help America Vote Act of 2002.

On Oct. 23, Dane County Circuit Court Judge Maryann Sumi dismissed the case, ruling that it was within the full discretion of the GAB to make that decision, and the attorney general had to right to try and enforce otherwise.

“Recognizing that there was no possibility for relief before the election, I decided to file the appeal after the election,” Van Hollen said in a press release Friday. “This appeal is important. There will be future elections. I believe that it is important for a state agency — in this case the Government Accountability Board — to follow the law.”

It is now up to the Dane County Court clerks to prepare and submit the records, after which the attorney general must submit a brief explaining his reasons for appeal and why the case should be reheard.

The GAB, along with other defendants including the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, must then file their own brief, explaining why the decision should be upheld and no appeal should be heard. The attorney general will then have a chance to respond.

Under Wisconsin state law, no case can be appealed directly to the Wisconsin State Supreme Court, but must first go through the Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals may, on its own, certify a case to the Supreme Court.

Any party of the lawsuit may also file a petition to bypass directly to the Supreme Court no later than 14 days after the GAB and other respondent parties file their briefs to the Court of Appeals.

While Van Hollen remains optimistic about the appeal, Alec Loftus, communications director for DPW, said Van Hollen is simply wasting taxpayers’ dollars.

“I don’t think Judge Sumi’s decision will be overturned,” Loftus said. “Judge Sumi wrote a very well-reasoned decision that made it clear that Van Hollen had no authority to bring the suit in the first place.”

He added that the only election he thinks this appeal would affect is Van Hollen’s in 2010 “when the voters punish him at the polls for wasting taxpayer money on his baseless lawsuit.”