Rock County clerk says polls are secure
JANESVILLE — If she had room, Clerk Lori Stottler might invite all 92,000 registered Rock County voters into her office for a soothing cup of tea.
She wants that badly for voters to relax and not worry about Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen’s lawsuit demanding checks of the thousands of people who have registered to vote in Wisconsin since Jan. 1, 2006.
But Stottler has a tiny office, so she’ll just say it.
“Everybody in Rock County is getting one vote,” Stottler said. “They’re not showing up in duplicate places. I feel very, very comfortable and secure in the election process for Rock County.”
Stottler took some time to explain the suit and the state’s computerized voter registration system.
Q: What is the suit and why did Van Hollen bring it?
A: Van Hollen says he wants to ensure Wisconsin is following federal election law that requires the state to check the IDs of registered voters against the state motor vehicle database.
The law went into effect in on Jan. 1, 2006, but the checks in Wisconsin didn’t start until Aug. 6 when the Government Accountability Board, which oversees state elections, got the software ready.
Municipal clerks, like Stottler, have been cross-checking voters since then. But Van Hollen wants checks to be done on anyone who registered since the law went into effect.
In Rock County, that could mean cross-checking 92,000 voters.
Q: How are voters identified in the first place?
A: Clerks use an Internet program with secure passwords to enter voter information as people register. Each voter is given a unique number to prevent duplication or confusion over misspelled names.
The information is updated as people move, die or are charged as felons.
Voters who miss two federal elections in a row are deemed inactive, and must register again.
All this keeps the registry fresh and up-to-date, Stottler said.
Q: When will we know the result of the suit?
A: Dane County Judge Maryann Sumi is scheduled to decide the question on Oct. 23. That would leave clerks seven working days to check voters’ names against their drivers license number.
That would be virtually impossible, Stottler said.
“I don’t know, if judge rules in Van Hollen’s favor, if it would be possible for us to process 92,000 cross checks, Stottler said. “Normally our poll books are run by that time.”
Q: Does the voter registry need all that cross-checking?
A: Stottler doesn’t think so. She’s seen improvements to the registry in the one year she’s served so far. It’s a work in progress that keeps getting better and more secure all the time, Stottler said.
“It’s moving forward only,” Stottler said. “To have someone dictate we’re going to have to move forward this quickly before a November election … I don’t like that.”
Q: If Van Hollen wins, then what?
Van Hollen’s lawsuit would not only require the checks to be done back to 2006, but also remove ineligible voters from the rolls. It’s up to the board that runs elections to determine who is ineligible. The board’s current policy is to allow voters who are flagged for discrepancies to vote without consequence.
Unless that policy changes, a Van Hollen win could have little practical impact.
Van Hollen is a Republican and co-chairman of John McCain’s campaign in Wisconsin.
Q: How can I tell if my voter information is accurate and up-to-date?
A: Log on to http://vpa.wi.gov. You can check your address and see which elections you’ve voted in the past.
Q: What if I have questions or need to change my information?
A: Call your municipal clerk. A list is available on the Rock County Web site at www.co.rock.wi.us. Click on the county clerk link.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Sep 28, 2008 at 11:57 p.m.
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I'm so glad we didn't get caught up in the e-voting machine wave that now is so riddled with flaws and risk that I wouldn't even bother voting.
Janesville's voting machines, in my opinion, are the perfect balance of technology and paper. Easy to read, easy to vote, easy to count, and in the event of a recount - easy to view the actual paper ballots.
Don't change a darn thing!
Sep 28, 2008 at 9:07 p.m.
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It makes no sense that Insightfullone's city has 3600 voters (in a city of 14,000) that have been questioned and may require verification on election day, and a city the size of Janesville has none. Which city clerk is not doing their
job correctly?
.
How are those 3600 voters going to confirm their identity on election day? Do they need to bring some kind of proof of ID?
Sep 27, 2008 at 8:42 p.m.
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This whole system of verifying voters currently is ridiculous, I agree. Yes, people can register and vote the same day and after the election, they are entered in the system. If they are kicked out (not matching with the DOT or SS#) not verifying, it's already too late. Their vote has been counted. I personally think it's a waste of time at this point. With the presidential election, we are already swamped. This extra work is a waste of time. They should have waited until next year or done it earlier. But yes, our city does have 3,600 that have been refused. We are hoping many of those have moved so they won't be upset on election day. We are currently running reports and we have to notify these people. It's crazy but I guess we have to do what we have to do. I'm sure most people are legit.
Sep 27, 2008 at 8:32 p.m.
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Insightfullone, I am glad to hear your are cross-checking registration information.
The point of my previous post is Van Hollen’s law suit is only requiring cross checks of registrations that were corrected by mail or submitted by third party registration groups, approximately 240,000 registrations statewide since 2006. States were supposed to create a central voter data base by 2004 (Wisconsin 4 years behind schedule) all voters are supposed to be crossed referenced with the voter data base, but in the case of Van Hollen’s law suit he is not addressing every voter registration (the federal law already did) . I find it hard to believe that your town of 14,000 has had 3,000 people either register through a third party, or changed their registration information by mail. It is know that a vast majority of the registrations that fall within the scope of the Van Hollen law suit are in the Milwaukee region. It should be noted that there are currently 39 ACORN employees facing charges of falsifying voter registrations in Milwaukee County. Clerk Lori Stottler saying that all 92,000 registrations need to be checked eventually is a fact, but that is not what is being debated, the third party registrations are what are in question, according to the law suit. Furthermore there is nothing preventing people who are kicked out of the voter database from registering on the day of the election, no “voter disenfranchisement.”
Sep 27, 2008 at 8:22 p.m.
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I have.
Sep 27, 2008 at 8:18 p.m.
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John Doe- have you ever read a supreme court decision? Be Honest.
Sep 27, 2008 at 7:39 p.m.
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Oh, and how many Dems in Florida influenced the big one? That's right NONE.
Sep 27, 2008 at 7:36 p.m.
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Remember RetiredAirForce...a law isn't really a law until the Supreme Court says it is. Kind of scary huh?
Especially when they make law instead of interpret it.
Sep 27, 2008 at 6:44 p.m.
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So another Dem in a government position that could effect the outcome of a National election refuses to follow a federal law...interesting.
Sep 27, 2008 at 4:50 p.m.
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I don't know if you work for a government office Beamish, but in the city where I work, we have over 3,000 that will be a problem (city around 14,000). So to say there's only a few hundred in Rock County is incorrect. It's not a third party registration program. These are registrations that were taken in our office, before certain regulations were in place and now we have to correct or clean up the ones that don't comply with the new rules. Currently, I have entered several hundred in the past week and they have kicked out around 20 - 30 voters. These were done with the state's SVRS program applications.
Sep 27, 2008 at 11:57 a.m.
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Van Hollen’s lawsuit only calls for the cross check of registrations submitted by third party registration groups (a.c.o.r.n) since 2006. Clerk Lori Stottler is being very misleading when she mentions 92,000 voter registrations needing to be checked. Not all 92,000 Rock county voters were registered by a third party group since 2006. If anything it would be a few hundred to a thousand registrations that would need checking. I find it very disheartening that our public employees and officials are choosing to break a federal law because they think it will benefit there party during the election. If there are any laws that should be upheld in this country shouldn’t it be our election laws?
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