The Government Accountability Board has received numerous complaints that information on voter registration mailings has been incorrect, according to a statement from the GAB.

In the statement, GAB director Kevin Kennedy said the GAB gets complaints about these types of mailings every election.

“Political parties and interest groups send out glossy mailers to encourage voters to register or apply for an absentee ballot to vote by mail,” Kennedy added. “While these mailings are permissible, our advice to voters is to examine them carefully before relying on them for definitive information about participating in the electoral process.”

Michael Haas, a staff attorney at the GAB, said the board has not made any judgments or conclusions pertaining to the misleading voter registration information.

“This type of thing has occurred with groups on all sides, not just Republicans,” Haas said. “This has been a problem in every major election.”

Haas said he does not think this will have much of an effect on voter turnout. A lot of things affect voter turnout, Haas added.

Haas also said the GAB had been promoting the new voter website they unveiled a few weeks ago, MyVote.WI.gov.

The GAB said in a statement this site should help voters make sure they are registered and know where to go on November 6.

“Wisconsin’s new voter information portal will empower voters, reduce the workload on local election officials, and help ensure fair and transparent elections,” Kennedy said.

Haas said this website will be very helpful because voters can print their registration forms directly online.

Nathan Conrad, spokesperson for the Republican Party of Wisconsin, said they are committed to increasing voter participation in the election this November.

“Unfortunately, no list is ever perfect and while these circumstances are without a doubt unfortunate, we are working diligently to make sure that accidental list mistakes do not occur in the future,” Conrad said in an email to The Badger Herald.

According to Graeme Zielinski, spokesperson for the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, Republicans have a “lousy track record” when it comes to protecting the votes of students.

Zielinski said their recent history is especially troubling.

“Whether this was intentional or not, it’s important that everyone’s vote is counted and protected and we are working to do that come November,” Zielinski said in an email to The Badger Herald.

Jay Heck, executive director of Common Cause Wisconsin, described the Republican Party sending out glossy brochures with misleading information as a “dirty political trick.” He said it is dishonest, confusing and undermines democracy.

Mike McCabe, the executive director for the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, said this is not the first time that he has seen incorrect information in voter registration applications, more often from the RPW.

“We’ve seen this kind of thing so often that it is hard to believe that it is not intentional,” McCabe said. “This has happened multiple times and it is starting to look like a pattern.”

Heck said instances like these go to show how far people will go to try and prevent the other side from winning an election. It appears that the RPW is mainly behind this, Heck added.

Heck said he does not know how many people will be affected by this, but even if one or two people are consequently unable to vote, that is too many.

Heck said he hopes the publicity surrounding this situation will alert the public enough and limit further damage.

“This is just another attempt of a partisan group attempting to throw the election,” Heck added. “When people read information printed in their mail, they will believe it. This is another form of voter suppression.”

McCabe said he cannot look into the hearts of the people making these mistakes, but he has to assume they are just completely inept, or they are truly trying to mislead voters.

When asked how this might affect the national election, McCabe said misleading voters in any way erects a barrier which can affect voter turnout.

“Lots of laws have been passed recently in our country that have restricted voting opportunities,” McCabe said. “We should really be doing the opposite and encouraging citizens to vote.”