As fall weather fills the air, so does the sweet smell of a new administration taking office at the White House. Unfortunately, many may find themselves without a vote on election day if Wisconsin Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen has his way.

Van Hollen filed a suit against the Wisconsin agency that oversees elections, claiming that the state is “required under federal law to check the names of more than 240,000 voters against driver records,” according to Van Hollen’s Web site.

This overhaul of work could mean that many voters will be unable to vote in November’s election if the judge votes in Van Hollen’s favor.

Van Hollen’s motives for the push to cross-check names and addresses with drivers licenses is a measure to ensure fewer counts of voter fraud in Wisconsin. I ask you: how common is voter fraud in Wisconsin?

There are, in all probability, legitimate counts of voter fraud on both ends of the political spectrum, whether the person is Democrat or Republican. However most voter fraud is a matter of clerical errors making mountains out of mole hills.

One issue is the matter of felons voting in Wisconsin, an issue that Republican Party leaders feel is widespread. According to a 2007 Wisconsin Journal article, about 82 felons cast illegal ballots. This amounts to less than one percent of Wisconsin’s voting population.

Van Hollen’s plan to alleviate voter fraud and increase “election integrity” is a matter of people presenting photo identification cards before voting, which is one of the reasons why this subject has become such a battle between Democrats and Republicans.

One must take into account that presumably the people less likely to have photo identification, the poor, elderly or minority voters, are voters that tend to lean to the left. Of course not in all cases, but generally.

Let us remember the 12 Indiana nuns that were turned away from the polls last spring because they could not provide accurate and updated identification.

According to MSNBC.com, Indiana Secretary of State Todd Rokita said, “from all accounts that we’ve heard, the sisters were aware of the photo ID requirements and chose not to follow them.” These 80 and 90-year-old nuns are clearly out of control.

Indiana’s photo identification requirements perhaps could be one of the reasons behind lower voter turnout in the state.

According to the United States Election Project, about 53 percent of Wisconsin’s eligible voters turned out for the 2006 midterm elections, while only 37 percent of eligible voters turned out in Indiana.

Many have accused Van Hollen as working in conjunction with Wisconsin’s Republican Party in compiling the suit, one in which he vehemently denies. I don’t know why anyone would think this man would have any bias. I wonder if the fact that he is a state co-chairman for McCain’s presidential campaign has anything to do with it?

Perhaps it is also the fact that Van Hollen has managed to litter his Web site with accusations towards Democrats misusing and manipulating voters into voting for their candidate.

Clearly there needs to be checks on voters in order to prevent the not so alarming rates of voter fraud in Wisconsin, although requiring photo identification when voting may not be the best path to take.

There are a number of reasons why people do not have a photo identification, whether they cannot afford one, or find it impossible to make it to the Department of Motor Vehicles. Perhaps they do not drive; it is difficult to say.

To throw away votes because of errors made by election officials seems inequitable; through no fault of their own a person loses their say as to who should be elected.

If this truly is a problem in today’s elections and not a desperate attempt to disenfranchise voters before the next presidential elections then let us find qualified people to handle the data, names, addresses and the like.

If this is a government that is for the people and by the people, then can lawmakers, politicians and government officials stop treating voting rights so flippantly? Every election there are plenty of news stories about votes being thrown away in high numbers to go around.

Clean up the system. If the addresses or names are wrong, fix them. If you need our help to clarify details, then ask us. Do not just throw away a vote because of an error that could have easily been prevented.

Doud is a senior political science major and guest columnist for The Spectator.