Wisconsin: Democratic Plaintiffs Urge Supreme Court To Uphold Gerrymandering Ruling | Wisconsin Public Radio

A group of Democratic plaintiffs is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold a ruling that struck down Wisconsin’s Republican-drawn legislative map as an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander. In a brief to the court, plaintiffs wrote that Wisconsin remains sharply divided politically, with a Democratic president winning the state in 2012 and a Republican winning in 2016. Similarly, they wrote, Wisconsin is represented in the U.S. Senate by one Democrat and one Republican. But the state Legislature is a different story, where Republicans won 60 out of 99 Assembly seats in 2012 despite losing the popular vote and grew their majority to 64 seats in 2016, even as the statewide vote remained nearly tied. “Republicans thus wield legislative power unearned by their actual appeal to Wisconsin’s voters,” the plaintiffs told the court.

Wisconsin: Attorney General Brad Schimel contradicts self, says voter fraud probe is open | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Under fire from conservatives, Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel said this week an investigation into voter fraud remained open, contradicting comments he made hours earlier that the probe had been closed. Schimel suggested his investigators may yet review more than 100 hours of undercover video shot by Project Veritas Action, a group run by conservative activist James O’Keefe. “It’s not the end of it,” the Republican attorney general said Thursday on “The Mark Belling Show” on WISN-AM (1130). Schimel’s office released a memo this week from an investigator saying he found no violations of Wisconsin laws. Just hours before he claimed the investigation had not been shut down, Schimel told the Wisconsin Radio Network the memo had been released because the investigation was closed.

Wisconsin: DOJ: Project Veritas tape did not show election law violations | Milwaukee Journal-Serntinel

Covert videos of Democratic activists released in the run-up to last year’s presidential election showed no violations of Wisconsin laws, a review by the attorney general’s office found. The blunt conclusion is at odds with how Republican Attorney General Brad Schimel initially reacted to the videos by conservative provocateur James O’Keefe, who has a track record of mischaracterizing his recordings and was found guilty of a misdemeanor in 2010 over one of his operations. Schimel’s office released a statement in October calling the actions by Democrats on the undercover videos “apparent violations of the law” and saying Schimel was “very concerned” about them.

Wisconsin: GOP Legislature Calls Redistricting Ruling Dangerous | Associated Press

Attorneys for the Republican-controlled Wisconsin Legislature asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to uphold GOP-drawn legislative boundaries, saying a ruling that found them to be unconstitutional was “dangerously” wrong. The filing comes in support of separate and similar arguments made by Republican Attorney General Brad Schimel in his appeal of a three-judge panel’s ruling last year striking down the maps. The judges ordered new maps to be drawn by November, saying the current ones amounted to unconstitutional partisan gerrymandering favoring Republicans. It was the first ruling of its kind after decades of legal battles over redistricting.

Wisconsin: Late absentee ballots more than doubled after deadline moved up | Wisconsin State Journal

The number of late absentee ballots that weren’t counted in last fall’s presidential election more than doubled from 2012 after lawmakers moved up their return deadline by three days, according to the Wisconsin Elections Commission. The increase — from 498 in the 2012 presidential election to 1,208 last fall — isn’t surprising given the change in law, and the number of ballots that weren’t counted is still “extremely small” given the more than 813,000 absentee ballots and nearly 3 million total ballots cast, WEC spokesman Reid Magney said. The State Journal reported on the little-known change in law in October. As recently as the August primary the law allowed absentee ballots to be counted if they were postmarked by Election Day and received by the next Friday.

Wisconsin: Bill would have prevented Jill Stein’s Wisconsin recount | Associated Press

A proposal to limit election recounts that’s up for a hearing Wednesday would have prevented Jill Stein’s Wisconsin recount and increased public trust in the election system, one Republican lawmaker said. “We need to make sure people aren’t using elections as a political tool,” the bill’s author, Sen. Devin LeMahieu, said at a Senate Committee on Elections and Utilities hearing. The bill from LeMahieu and GOP Rep. Ron Tusler would only allow candidates in statewide elections who trail the leading candidate by 1 percent or less of the total number of votes to petition for a recount. Had the bill been in place in November, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who lost to Republican Donald Trump by a margin of less than 1 percent in Wisconsin, would have been able to petition for a recount. But not Stein. She came in fourth but raised more than $3.5 million to fund Wisconsin’s recount. The state’s election commission later refunded Stein $1.5 million after costs were less than estimated.

Wisconsin: Attorney General appeals redistricting case | Wisconsin Public Radio

Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel has filed an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court challenging a ruling that overturned the state’s Republican-drawn legislative districts. In a first-of-its kind decision last year, a panel of federal judges ruled Wisconsin’s legislative map was a partisan gerrymander that was “intended to burden the rights of Democratic voters” by making it harder for them to translate votes into legislative seats. In a separate order issued earlier this year, the court told lawmakers to redraw the map by Nov. 1 so it would be ready for the 2018 general election.

Wisconsin: Elections Commission warns of significant staff cuts | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

With federal funds about to run out, the Wisconsin Elections Commission asked lawmakers Tuesday to stave off what would be a 28% staffing cut in just over two years. A federal grant is running out for the agency, which relies on that stream of money to fund 22 of its 32 positions. GOP Gov. Scott Walker has set aside $2.5 million in new state tax dollars in his two-year budget to retain 16 of those positions. But six positions would still disappear, amounting to a 28% staffing cut in an agency that has already seen job losses since 2015. “We are concerned that such a significant staffing reduction will mean that the agency will not be able to adequately carry out the duties and responsibilities assigned to it under federal and state laws,” said Jodi Jensen, a Republican who sits on the commission.

Wisconsin: Election officials setting stage to remove hundreds of thousands of names from the voting rolls | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Wisconsin election officials are setting the stage to remove hundreds of thousands of people from the voting rolls because they have died, moved or not voted in the past four years. The voters will be notified and will have a chance to keep themselves registered to vote. Wisconsin Elections Commission approved the plan Tuesday to send postcards to up to nearly 800,000 voters by June to tell them they will be removed from the voter rolls if they don’t update their information. Also Tuesday, the commission certified to the Legislature that it has put in place a new system allowing people to use an online portal to register to vote, provided they have a valid Wisconsin driver’s license or state ID card. The system is for registering only and voters still have to cast ballots at the polls, in clerks’ offices or by mail.

Wisconsin: 17-year-olds voted illegally in Wisconsin primary | Associated Press

Dozens of 17-year-olds voted illegally across Wisconsin during last spring’s intense presidential primary, apparently wrongly believing they could cast ballots if they turned 18 ahead of the November general election, according to a new state report. Wisconsin Elections Commission staff examined voter fraud referrals municipal clerks said they made to prosecutors following the 2016 spring primary and general elections. The commission is set to approve the findings during a meeting Tuesday and forward a report to the Legislature.

Wisconsin: Attorney General appeals redistricting ruling | Associated Press

Wisconsin’s Republican attorney general filed an appeal Friday with the U.S. Supreme Court challenging a ruling striking down GOP-drawn legislative boundaries as unconstitutional. Brad Schimel had said he would appeal since a panel of judges last month struck down the maps and ordered the Republican-controlled Legislature to draw new boundaries. The judges ordered that new maps be drawn by November so they would be in place for the 2018 election. Democrats who challenged the maps are calling on the Legislature to move quickly to draw new ones. But Schimel and Republicans don’t want to do that unless the Supreme Court requires it.

Wisconsin: Scott Walker signals support for recount changes | Wisconsin State Journal

Gov. Scott Walker signaled support Wednesday for a bill that would only allow candidates to request a recount in state and local races if they trail the winner by a certain margin. The bill is a direct response to last year’s presidential recount that was triggered and paid for by Green Party candidate Jill Stein, who received 1 percent of the vote. The recount, which cost Stein’s campaign a little more than $2 million and county and municipal clerks thousands of hours of additional work during a traditionally busy time of year, resulted in Donald Trump extending his lead over Hillary Clinton by 131 votes. It also revealed more than 11,000 errors in how ballots were counted on election night out of 3 million total votes cast, but no major flaws in the state election system. Sen. Devin LeMahieu, R-Oostburg, and Reps. Jeremy Thiesfeldt, R-Fond du Lac, and Ron Tusler, R-Harrison, are lead sponsors of the bill, which LeMahieu said in December he would introduce in response to the recount. Walker also signaled support for such a proposal then, but details weren’t yet available.

Wisconsin: Lawmakers Look To Change Wisconsin Recount Law | Wisconsin Public Radio

A new proposal from state lawmakers would only allow second place finishers to request election recounts in Wisconsin, a policy change that would have prevented Wisconsin’s recent presidential recount. The new proposal says only a second place finisher who comes within one percent of the winner can request a recount. That would have been about 7,5000 votes in the last presidential election. The bill’s sponsors say it’s in response to the presidential recount requested by Green Party candidate Jill Stein last year. Stein only received about one percent of the vote in Wisconsin.

Wisconsin: GOP lawmakers to write blank check to hire lawyers in redistricting battle | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Republican lawmakers voted behind closed doors Thursday to give a blank check to hire two law firms — one of which routinely bills more than $800 an hour — in a legal battle over redrawing legislative maps. The move will add to a bill that has already topped $2 million. One of the firms the lawmakers hired is a high-powered legal operation where former U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement is a partner. Clement, who has Wisconsin roots, charges more than $1,300 an hour, according to published reports. Legislative aides would not say if Clement will be on the legal team they are assembling.

Wisconsin: GOP to hire law firms to defend redistricting | Milwaukeen Journal Sentinel

Republicans in the Wisconsin Legislature plan to hire two law firms in hopes of overturning a ruling that found they must redraw legislative maps. Aides to Republican leaders declined to say Wednesday how much hiring the firms would cost taxpayers. A panel of three federal judges in the fall found maps Republicans drew in 2011 were so favorable to their party that they violated the voting rights of Democrats. Last month, the judges ordered them to establish new maps by November. Leadership committees in the Assembly and Senate are set to approve hiring the law firms on Thursday. The law firms will draft friend-of-the-court briefs to urge the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the decision, said Myranda Tanck, a spokeswoman for state Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau).

Wisconsin: Another Push To Redraw Wisconsin’s Political Boundaries | WXPR

In November, a federal three-judge panel ruled that Wisconsin’s political boundaries are unconstitutionally gerrymandered to give an unfair advantage to incumbent politicians. (Judges last Friday reaffirmed the ruling.) Reform legislation will be introduced in the current legislative session to take the job of drawing political boundaries out of the hands of partisan politicians, and give it to a nonpartisan panel. Jay Heck, executive director of Common Cause in Wisconsin, says Wisconsin elections are no longer competitive, and points to the state’s congressional seats in Washington as an example.

Wisconsin: Court to Republicans: Redraw election maps | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

After striking down Wisconsin’s legislative maps as unconstitutional two months ago, a federal court Friday ordered Gov. Scott Walker and lawmakers to redraw the districts by Nov. 1 to ensure their use in the fall 2018 elections. The three-judge federal panel rejected the state’s request to wait until the U.S. Supreme Court has weighed in on the case, which is being watched closely nationwide because it relies on a novel legal argument. But the panel also denied a request by the Democratic plaintiffs that the court draw the maps. The judges said that was a task better left to the state’s GOP-controlled Legislature and Walker, saying there was no evidence they wouldn’t comply with the order. “It is neither necessary nor appropriate for us to embroil the court in the Wisconsin Legislature’s deliberations,” the panel wrote.

Wisconsin: Recount raised ‘human error’ concerns among Wisconsin’s county clerks | Green Bay Press Gazette

Now that they’ve finished recounting roughly 3 million presidential election ballots, several clerks throughout eastern and central Wisconsin continue to worry about one aspect of the voting process. Human error. Some voters struggled to mark ballots correctly. Some made the correct marks, but used pens that scanning machines couldn’t read. Some forgot to have a witness sign an absentee ballot. Some election workers allowed unsigned absentee ballots to be counted. “One thing that surprised me (was) the amount of human errors that I’m still seeing with this election,” Fond du Lac County Clerk Lisa Freiberg said. Whether they might be able to improve the process, however, remains to be seen. Clerks agreed that machines used to tally votes worked as they were supposed to. But they also said the recount helped them discover human errors that, while they did not affect the overall outcome of the state’s presidential vote, might have been problematic in a local election in which fewer votes were cast.

Wisconsin: State Recount Costs Come in $2 Million Less Than Expected | Lake Mills Leader

Wisconsin’s presidential election recount costs will come in almost $2 million less than expected with only one county left to settle its bill. Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein paid the state $3.9 million to start the recount but will be reimbursed with a final bill expected at $1.8 million, Wisconsin Elections Commission officials said. Brown County – the last of the state’s 72 counties to tally costs – is expected to have its final bill ready next week. Stein, who held a rally at the state Capitol Jan. 3, said she will use the leftover recount money to fund Count My Vote Wisconsin, an election reform and voting rights organization. Supporters donated money for Stein’s recount requests in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.

Wisconsin: Presidential Recount Expected To Come In Vastly Under Budget | Wisconsin Public Radio

The final cost of Wisconsin’s presidential recount will likely be about half of what was estimated. Seventy-one of the state’s 72 counties have reported their final recount costs to the state Elections Commission. The total is about $1.8 million. Last month, estimates from counties projected the cost of the recount to be about $3.8 million. Reid Magney, spokesman for the Elections Commission, said the overestimates were likely due to counties being “cautious” about the expense. “I think they probably, not knowing exactly what it would cost, wanted to make sure that their costs would be covered,” Magney said.

Wisconsin: Jill Stein: $1.5 million refund could pay for new voter advocacy group | Wisconsin State Journal

Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein said a roughly $1.5 million refund from the Wisconsin recount could go toward a new voter advocacy effort in the state. Stein, who received about 1 percent of the vote and gained 66 votes in the recount, held a rally Tuesday at the state Capitol to address the results of the state’s historic recount, which her campaign paid $3.5 million to initiate, and launch Count My Vote Wisconsin. … Stein’s campaign raised more than $7 million in a short period to fund recounts in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Only the Wisconsin recount made it past court challenges seeking to halt all three.

Wisconsin: Presidential recount cost far less than $3.9 million estimate | FOX6

Wisconsin’s presidential recount, which produced very few changes to the Election Night tally, will end up costing far less than the original $3.9 million estimate. With 69 of the 72 counties reporting, the actual cost is a little more than $1.8 million – about half the original estimate, according to data provided to FOX6 News by the Wisconsin Elections Commission. Kenosha, Brown and Pierce counties have not yet reported, but Elections Administrator Mike Haas said he expects their final numbers this week. Combined, clerks in the three counties had expected the recount to cost them around $500,000.CLICK HERE to view the election recount estimates, actual cost

Wisconsin: Both sides optimistic about success in redistricting case | The Cap Times

Wisconsin’s 2011 state Assembly maps were ruled unconstitutional last November and the state is looking for a Supreme Court review of the case. Both sides are optimistic that district lines will fall in pleasant places for them. Two separate guests on the Sunday morning political talk show “Capital City Sunday,” expressed their confidence that the results would go their way. Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel believes the Supreme Court will most likely take up the case and rule in the state’s favor, while Wisconsin Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca sees the initial “unconstitutional” ruling as a source of hope for state Democrats. After a panel of three federal judges ruled that the maps made it more difficult for Democrats to “translate their votes into seats,” both parties in the case were required to submit a plan about how to rectify the gerrymandered district lines.

Wisconsin: Recount found thousands of errors, but no major flaws in state election system | Wisconsin State Journal

Wisconsin’s first statewide presidential recount found no major problems with the state’s voting system, but it did reveal several errors affecting thousands of ballots that could spur local clerks to tighten procedures, according to a Wisconsin State Journal review of the results. The recount revealed a yawn-inducing shift in the presidential election results — President-elect Donald Trump extended his lead over Democrat Hillary Clinton by 131 votes and total votes increased by about 400 out of nearly 3 million cast. Recount proponents had raised concerns about Russia possibly tampering with election results, but the recount found no evidence to support such claims. However, the small net change in votes obscured that there were thousands of both positive and negative swings in the final totals. At least 9,039 presidential votes weren’t counted correctly on Election Night, and only were added to the official results because of the recount, the State Journal review found. Another 2,161 votes were originally counted but later tossed out for reasons including to square vote totals with the number of voters who signed the poll book.

Wisconsin: 2016 in review: Wisconsin’s presidential recount | WPR

Finalizing the outcome of the presidential election in Wisconsin proved difficult this year, with the state thrust into a national battle over recounting the results. Despite finishing fourth in the state’s presidential vote, Green Party nominee Jill Stein requested the recount Thanksgiving week. Stein campaign manager David Cobb said it was needed to give voters confidence in the outcome of the election – won by Republican President-elect Donald Trump. “We are not interested in trying to change the result of the election,” Cobb said. “We are interested in verifying the results of the election, and to ensure that there’s integrity.” The request came amid questions about possible Russian interference in the presidential election, and concerns that technology used to cast ballots on Election Day could have been “hacked” to change the outcome. While Stein’s campaign presented experts who explained how that could have happened, the campaign did not provide any actual evidence of outside interference.

Wisconsin: Plaintiffs in Wisconsin redistricting lawsuit lay out plan for new maps | The Capital Times

Plaintiffs in Wisconsin’s legislative redistricting lawsuit are asking a federal court to throw out the state’s Assembly map and implement a timeline for creating a new one ahead of the 2018 and 2020 legislative elections. The plaintiffs and Attorney General Brad Schimel, representing the state, filed new briefs in federal court Wednesday following a decision by a panel of judges last month ruling Wisconsin’s map an unconstitutional gerrymander. Judges asked both parties to submit more briefs with proposals for what to do about the map. Schimel is asking the court to keep the map in place for now and wait until the U.S. Supreme Court makes a ruling on the issue. If it decides the map needs to be replaced, it should direct the Legislature redraw it to comply with its ruling, according to his brief. “The Legislature, the Court, and the parties should not expend resources drawing and debating a plan that is merely a placeholder until the Supreme Court rules on the issue,” Schimel wrote. In their brief, the plaintiffs argue that the judges’ November ruling means that the process for creating new maps should begin immediately and the current map should be eliminated.

Wisconsin: Jill Stein Says She’s Not Satisfied With Wisconsin Presidential Recount | Wisconsin Public Radio

Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein said Tuesday she is dissatisfied with Wisconsin’s presidential recount. On a call with reporters, Stein decried the use of machines in Wisconsin’s recount, which ended Monday, as well as the cost of the re-tallying. Stein expressed concern that Milwaukee County, in particular, used machines in its recount. “This was essentially a recount that looked everywhere except in the areas of greatest risk,” Stein said. “I think there’s enormous evidence that when you’re looking for the bank robber, you’ve got to look around the bank and I think unfortunately that’s what was avoided in the Wisconsin recount.” Stein requested a hand recount in all of Wisconsin’s 72 counties, but was denied by the state Elections Commission and a subsequent court decision. State law empowers county elections officials to choose whether to use machines as they conduct their recount.

Wisconsin: Completed Wisconsin recount widens Donald Trump’s lead by 131 votes | Wisconsin State Journal

Wisconsin’s historic presidential recount ended Monday resulting in a net gain of 131 votes for President-elect Donald Trump over Democrat Hillary Clinton, the Wisconsin Elections Commission said. Trump added 844 votes to his total for the Nov. 8 election, while Clinton added 713. Overall, the commission said, voters cast 2.976 million ballots. The recount resulted in a net increase of 837 ballots. “Completing this recount was a challenge, but the real winners are the voters,” Elections Commission Chairman Mark Thomsen said in a statement after signing off on the statewide results. “Based on the recount, they can have confidence that Wisconsin’s election results accurately reflect the will of the people, regardless of whether they are counted by hand or by machine.” The last statewide recount, in a 2011 Supreme Court race, resulted in a net change of 312 votes for the top two candidates out of 1.5 million ballots cast.

Wisconsin: Odd traffic on local websites puzzles officials | Ashland Daily Press

According to City of Ashland Cyber Security Consultant Eric Ellason and Bayfield County Director of Information Technology Paul Houck, both municipalities have seen an unusual amount of traffic coming to their sites from Russia. Ellason, who owns and operates SlickRockWeb, Inc., an Internet services firm in Ashland, has contracted with the City of Ashland to operate the city’s website. Ellason provides cyber security services to firms across the country, as well as remediation work for hacked websites. “With all of the talk about Russian involvement in the elections, it prompted me to go and look at the traffic recorded at the city’s website,” he said, That curiosity about what kind of traffic the city’s website was getting from Russia and other eastern European countries led to an unexpected result. “On most websites you are always going to get a little bit of traffic there, and every day there is always somebody looking for a security issue, so you are always going to see a baseline of traffic that is always a little suspect. Most of the time they don’t find anything, they are just trolling for security flaws,” Ellason said. “When I separated out just Russian traffic, there was a huge spike from about March 15 of this year.”

Wisconsin: Judge Rules Against Attempt To Halt Wisconsin Presidential Recount | Wisconsin Public Radio

A federal judge has ruled against an attempt to halt Wisconsin’s presidential recount. Judge James Peterson denied the request from two super PACs that supported President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign Friday morning. “It’s crystal clear to me that I don’t have the basis to stop the recount,” Peterson said. “The recount looks like it’s going as the state said: smoothly.” The lawsuit claimed Wisconsin’s recount violates equal protection requirements, puts the state at risk of missing a federal elections reporting deadline and may cast doubt on the legitimacy of Trump’s victory.