The state Department of Justice will dispatch several observers for next Tuesday’s election in a move they say will help ensure compliance with state election laws, but some state Democrats are skeptical of their intentions.
Van Hollen’s decision, announced Tuesday, would send more than 50 assistant attorney generals and special agents from the Division of Criminal Investigation to polling sites across the state in an effort to combat voter fraud other problems at the polls.
Some Democrats, however, believe the move has more sinister motives. In a press release issued Wednesday, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin chairman Joe Wineke launched a scathing condemnation of the DOJ’s decision, calling it “desperate,” and a “shameless political stunt.”
They also said Van Hollen’s recently struck-down lawsuit against the Government Accountability Board, saying that Van Hollen has used the dispatch of election observers as a last resort effort to disenfranchise Democrats.
DPW Communications Director Alec Loftus reiterated Wineke’s harsh words, saying the move amounts to an attempt at voter suppression.
“Attorney General Van Hollen is using his office to disenfranchise voters,” Loftus said. “Nevertheless, we are going to be working to ensure no one is disenfranchised or intimidated at the polls.
Loftus also expressed concern over what he perceived was an overemphasis on election monitoring in heavily Democratic areas, such as Milwaukee County.
DOJ spokesperson William Cosh was not available for an interview via phone, but issued an email defending Van Hollen’s move as consistent with past DOJ policy and rejected the notion that the move would try to disenfranchise voters.
“As has been the Department’s practice since 2004, Department of Justice attorneys and agents will be sent to selected municipalities across Wisconsin to act as poll observers on Election Day,” Cosh said. “In that capacity, DOJ personnel will be available to assist local law enforcement and election authorities as appropriate.”
GAB spokesperson Kyle Richmond said despite Van Hollen’s decision to send election observers, they will not have any formal role at the polling stations.
“Anybody at a polling place who is there simply to observe must wear a nametag indicating as such and must register with the polling officer,” Richmond said. “Ultimately, the only decision-maker at the polling place is the chief polling officer.”
Richmond said that state polling places are prepared for what will likely be a record voter turnout on Tuesday.
Richmond also wanted to dispel a rumor that has been circulating through viral emails saying that voting a straight party ballot will disqualify a presidential vote.
He also reminded voters not to wear clothes or apparel on Election Day that advertise any political view, as this could be viewed as a disturbance and lead to ejection from the polling place.
