Wisconsin's attorney general says a judge should not be swayed by "mischaracterizations" of his lawsuit against the state elections agency. JB Van Hollen filed a legal brief Wednesday, asking Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi not to dismiss his suit something Democrats and labor unions are calling for.
The attorney general says he's trying to get the Government Accountability Board to comply with federal law, and double-check the registrations of almost a quarter-million people who signed up by mail or outside groups since 2006. The Accountability Board says it only has to double check those registrations made since August.
Van Hollen says those checks nullify Democratic claims that the process tries to stop people from voting. He also said it's not true that names must be removed from the voter rolls if they're not exactly the same as what's listed on their driver's licenses.
The AG also cited a federal appeals court ruling from Ohio this week, saying it upheld the checks as well as the Help America Vote Act. The US 6th Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the Ohio Republican Party in its lawsuit against the Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, telling her to cross check the names of 666,000 new or updated voter registrations since January 1st.
Democrats and other groups have accused Van Hollen of "carrying water" for his Republican Party something. He denies the assertion saying the state needs to follow the law and discourage voter fraud.
