Van Hollen Must Immediately Release Total Cost of Poll Monitor Stunt to Taxpayers

Taxpayers Paying for AG’s Stunt Deserve to Know How Much
Money is Being Wasted on Voter Suppression

MADISON – The Democratic Party of Wisconsin has filed an open records request demanding that Attorney General JB Van Hollen immediately release all details of his plans to send more than 50 assistant attorneys general and state agents to the polls, including which polling locations the agents will be monitoring and the total cost of his latest politically-motivated stunt to taxpayers.

Van Hollen’s office has thus far declined to release specifics of his plan except for the basic areas of the state his agents will be targeting.

“We need to know exactly where these agents will be deployed and exactly how much Van Hollen’s political stunt will cost taxpayers,” said Joe Wineke, Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair. “Van Hollen hid the cost of his politically-motivated lawsuit from taxpayers, but he won’t get away with hiding the cost of his latest unnecessary stunt.”

“I don’t know how much it costs to pay 50 prosecutors and agents to work twelve-hour shifts with overtime, but it’s not $155,” said Wineke.

After losing his partisan lawsuit against the GAB, Van Hollen is now so desperate to manipulate the election for his Republican Party bosses that he has resorted to sending his own staff to the polls to do the GOP’s bidding.

Van Hollen is pulling these agents away from their real jobs to investigate fabricated stories about widespread voter fraud. There is no widespread voter fraud in Wisconsin, as Republican U.S. Attorney Steve Biskupic has already confirmed following a thorough investigation.

“We need to know if Van Hollen plans to send large groups of his agents to heavily Democratic areas like the City of Milwaukee, and if so, will he also be sending the same number of agents to heavily Republican areas like WaukeshaCounty?” Wineke asked.  

“The U.S. Department of Justice has already decided that criminal prosecutors will not be used as election monitors this year, and it is extremely irresponsible of Van Hollen to use state agents and prosecutors in this way,” Wineke said. “This is nothing more than a shameless political stunt designed to manipulate the election.” 
 
The Democratic Party of Wisconsin will be working hard this Election Day to ensure that voters are able to cast their ballots in an environment free of discrimination, suppression or intimidation. On November 4, every qualified voter must be able to go to the polls and exercise their most basic American right.