VAN HOLLEN? OR VANHOLLEN? JBs VOTING RECORDS IN DISARRAY

He Likes the Convenience of On-Site Registration -- for Himself, but would Deny it to Others
Special to the Readers of Milwaukeeworld.com

By Michael Horne

If I were up to the sort of mischief our attorney general promotes, I'd head up to Polling Place #2, 333 S. Madison Street in Waunakee, Wisconsin on election day and challenge JOHN BYRON VANHOLLEN when he shows up to vote. VANHOLLEN, born February 19th, 1966, better known by the alias "J. B. Van Hollen," is the attorney general of the state of Wisconsin. He's been busy meddling with the state court system to insist that election commission officials go through a punctilious scrutiny of voters which he feels is mandated by the HAVA act.
I don't think he'd pass his own test.
JOHN BYRON VANHOLLEN is the same guy as JOHN B VAN HOLLEN, who once lived at 816 Chalfont Drive, Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, when he served as United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin. But a search of "J. B. Van Hollen" (with or without the space) would not turn up his name in the state register of voters, even though he uses the initials and the space as his legal designation in court documents and when he ran for election, and in his official biography in the Wisconsin Blue Book. Here, try for yourself -- the state doesn't even have a place to enter a middle initial in its search form. Thanks for nothing!
And, once you find out his first name is John, things don't get much better, since when he was registered in Sun Prairie on November 5th, 2002, he went by JOHN B VAN HOLLEN, [no middle name, and a space between "Van" and "Hollen"] (again, search for yourself). Oh, by the way, it appears that Van Hollen registered at the polls, since he also voted on November 5th, 2002, on the spot, according to records.
Apparently Van Hollen likes the convenience of registering at the polls -- I wonder what sort of ID he had to produce when he registered in Waunakee on September 14th, 2004 -- also an election day! That's when he signed up as JOHN BYRON VANHOLLEN -- adding a middle name, and merging his two last names into one. Interestingly, he bought his house at 1303 Lawton Court in Waunakee on March 15th, 2004, but continued to vote from his Sun Prairie address as late as April 6th, 2004. He didn't sell that house until June 17th, 2004, so I guess he had his choice.
Clearly, if a U.S. Attorney and a Wisconsin Attorney General can't see to it that his name is clearly and consistently entered into official documents, what right has he to insist on onerous requirements for those who lack his professional credentials and sophistication?
What's Your Take?

FUN FACT
Lt. Governor Barbara Lawton, D.O.B. July 5th, 1951, shows up as an inactive registrant with an address of 1040 Van Buren St. S. in Green Bay. The voting records show her last visit to the polls as being in 2003, which doesn't sound right. I tried "Barb" and I've tried "B", but she didn't show up, so I called her office with the news that apparently she is not registered, and hasn't been voting, despite telling the rest of us to vote, most recently at a lovely reception at the Brico Fund headquarters on Tuesday, September 16th, 2008, hosted by Lynde Uihlein. I was not able to immediately get a response, but will tell you when I do.
--Michael Horne