Officials: Wis. lawsuit could slow voting

MADISON, Wis., Sept. 12 (UPI) -- The Wisconsin attorney general has filed a lawsuit that some elections officials say could lead to long lines at the polls on Election Day.

Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen filed a suit Monday in Dane County Circuit Court, intended to remove ineligible voters from voter rolls by requiring a state board to cross-check voters who have registered since Jan. 1, 2006. That's when the U.S. Help America Vote Act mandated that states develop databases to check voter registrations against Department of Transportation, criminal and death records, the Madison (Wis.) Capital Times said Friday.

Like other state's, Wisconsin has recorded a massive increase in voter registration for the Nov. 4 election.

Madison City Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl told the newspaper the lawsuit "will disenfranchise voters."

"We're working on plans to make sure we don't have long lines at the polls, make sure that the lines can move smoothly and quickly," Witzel-Behl said. "If we throw this into the mix, then it is going to slow things down."

The state board responsible for cross-checking voter rolls did not have a system in place until Aug. 6 and said it would cross-check from that date on. However, Van Hollen, a Republican, said the check has to date back to Jan. 1, 2006, to comply with federal law.