Wisconsin Elections Commission deadlocks on poll watchers | Scott Bauer/Associated Press
The bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission couldn’t agree Monday on what to tell the state’s local election officials about how to handle poll watchers, including where they can stand as people register to vote and check in to receive their ballots. The commission split along party lines, with all three Republicans in support of sending a notice to clerks attempting to spell out what the law allows. All three Democrats opposed it, resulting in a deadlock vote and no change. The issue came up less than a month after the commission voted to start the lengthy process of reviewing existing rules and writing new ones for election observers. Commission chair Don Millis said that given the process won’t be done until a year or more after the Nov. 8 election, he wanted to offer clerks clarity on the existing law now. The unprecedented recruitment efforts are the result of heightened election skepticism and have some local clerks worried about safety at the polls, especially because reports of intimidating behavior from partisan observers have popped up across the country since 2020. Millis and other Republicans on the commission argued Monday that clerks needed some guidance to address concerns about poll watchers. Millis called his proposal “very modest.”
Full Article: Wisconsin Elections Commission deadlocks on poll watchers | AP News