As voters take to the polls for midterm elections Tuesday, an Election Integrity Task Force will be responding to complaints in an attempt to combat voter fraud, according to the Wisconsin Department of Justice.
The task force is one of several other outlined response plans meant to ensure a fair election, Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen said in a statement Monday.
According to the statement, the task force will reinforce existing state and local laws regarding voter fraud in all counties in Wisconsin.
“By leveraging expertise and resources, this task force will greater assist law enforcement in the handling of election-related issues,” Van Hollen said in the statement.
The task force will be identifying and prosecuting any voting-related issues, including felon voting, double voting, voter registration problems and campaign fundraising, according to the DOJ.
Local law enforcement and district attorneys will be the primary receivers of complaints, but the DOJ will also be involved in investigating and prosecuting individual cases, according to the DOJ.
The Government Accountability Board will also be monitoring for voting discrepancies alongside the task force, said Reid Magney, spokesperson for the GAB.
Once the polls have closed and the votes have been counted, the GAB checks for violations such as double voting and turns over any information to the DOJ, Magney added.
Voter fraud should not be an issue in this election, said Jay Heck, executive director of Common Cause in Wisconsin, adding that it is a “myth” in Wisconsin.
Though Wisconsin has had isolated incidents of voting problems, Heck says it has never been a major issue, calling it a “lie.”
After evidence of voter fraud surfaced in Florida in the 2000 presidential election, the government required uniformity in the voting system. In Wisconsin, everyone votes with an optical scanner, which leaves a paper trail and providing evidence to back up the electronic count.
“However, it’s good to have a safeguard in place if something were to occur,” Heck added.
