Conservatives are fighting back against leftist-led get-out-the-vote campaigns on college campuses nationwide. But will it prove to be too little, too late?
In the battleground Badger State, the Wisconsin Voter Alliance has filed a complaint alleging the University of Wisconsin-Parkside is violating the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) “by engaging in university-sponsored student get-out-the-vote and voter registration drives.”
The complaint initially hit a bureaucratic brick wall at the impotent Wisconsin Elections Commission but recently was referred to an administrative law judge. It presents an interesting test of the targeted use of the state’s voter registration database and whether Parkside’s GOTV efforts are discriminatory.
Should the challenge prove successful, Wisconsin Voter Alliance attorney Erick Kaardal believes it could sink similar partisan-tinged campaigns throughout the University of Wisconsin system and at more than 1,000 college campuses engaged in similar left-led GOTV efforts nationwide.
“This is what fighting back looks like,” the election integrity attorney said.
‘Government-Sponsored GOTV’
The complaint argues that even if the Kenosha university is authorized to engage in student get-out-the-vote and voter registration drives, such efforts have failed to comply with HAVA’s legal requirements. For one, the complaint notes, the voter act “preempts” government-sponsored GOTV and voter registration drives, affirmed by opinions from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.
“Neither Section 101 nor 251 funds may be used to conduct voter registration drives or get out the vote efforts; including advertising for the event, setting up booths, and paying salaries of employees who register new voters,” one EAC guidance memo
