Wisconsin Supreme Court hears case over fate of elections chief Wolfe | Jessie Opoien/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The state Supreme Court on Monday heard arguments in a case that will determine whether Republican lawmakers can remove or replace Wisconsin’s top elections official as she remains in the post beyond the expiration of her term. Dane County Circuit Judge Ann Peacock ruled in January that Senate Republicans do not have the authority to remove or replace Wisconsin Elections Commission administrator Meagan Wolfe — a decision legislative Republicans appealed and brought to the state’s high court. Peacock ruled Wolfe legally retains her position beyond an expired term because of a 2022 ruling that allowed Frederick Prehn, a holdover from Republican former Gov. Scott Walker’s administration, to remain on the state’s Natural Resources Board nearly two years after his term ended. Read Article

Wisconsin Supreme Court case could decide fate of state’s top election official | Alexander Shur/Votebeat

A lawsuit that could determine whether Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Meagan Wolfe can keep her job is coming before the state Supreme Court on Monday. The case focuses on the legality of appointees staying on after their terms expire, rather than any matter of her performance as the state’s top election official. Republicans began targeting Wolfe, a nonpartisan appointee, after Donald Trump lost Wisconsin in the 2020 election. Since then, she has endured criticism from Trump supporters for several decisions that the election commission made, as well as for some memos she sent to clerks who run local elections. As Wolfe’s term expired in the summer 2023, the election commission deadlocked on her reappointment. Shortly after, the Republican-controlled state Senate voted to fire her in a move that it later said was only symbolic, but that triggered a protracted fight. Read Article

Wisconsin: Milwaukee mistake stands out in otherwise smooth election | Alexander Shur |/Votebeat

Polls closed across Wisconsin after an Election Day marked most notably by a human error in Milwaukee that prompted city election officials to count 31,000 absentee ballots all over again, potentially delaying the state’s unofficial results for hours. In other areas around the state, problems appeared minimal despite long lines and rain. Some election officials said they had unprecedented turnout but managed it. Madison received bomb threats, likely originating from Russia, directed at several current and former polling places, but city police didn’t deem the threats credible and didn’t interrupt voting because of them. By 9 p.m., election officials had already tabulated around 1.4 million absentee and in-person ballots across the state. Read Article

Wisconsin early voting slowed by label printing problems | Patrick Marley/The Washington Post

Early voting kicked off in this battleground state this week with computer delays and long lines. Voters on Tuesday and Wednesday faced long waits as clerks tried to print labels with their names and addresses. The labels are affixed to the ballot envelopes that voters are required to use. Ordinarily, each label can be printed immediately. But since Tuesday, they have taken two minutes or longer to print, clerks said. Each delay causes a chain reaction that exacerbates the long lines. State election officials announced late Tuesday that the computer issues had been resolved but acknowledged Wednesday that the problems had recurred. They said the printing delays appeared to be part of an unspecified information technology problem affecting other government agencies as well. Read Article

Wisconsin voters are hearing a lot about noncitizen voting that rarely happens | Alexander Shur/Votebeat

Melissa Kono had just finished a training session with a new Republican poll worker in 2014 when she asked the poll worker if she had any questions. “Her question was, ‘What do I do when all the Mexicans come in to vote?’” recalled Kono, the town clerk in Burnside, in western Wisconsin’s Trempealeau County. “And I was speechless, because I was like, that just doesn’t happen. There’s all this other stuff you should be asking questions about because it’s new to you … I was just flabbergasted by that comment.” Since then, as she trains poll workers and clerks across the state, Kono said she has seen the worry over noncitizen voting grow. At this point, she said, the baseless concern that noncitizens will vote en masse in the Nov. 5 presidential contest is the election conspiracy theory she hears about most from GOP poll workers and voters. The suspicion plays into growing doubts about the integrity of elections and century-old stereotypes of immigrants as criminals. GOP talking point on noncitizen voting permeates Wisconsin – Votebeat

Wisconsin: Voting rights groups seek investigation into intimidating text message | Scott Bauer/Associated Press

Voting rights advocates on Tuesday asked state and federal authorities to investigate anonymous text messages apparently targeting young Wisconsin voters, warning them not to vote in a state where they are ineligible. Free Speech for People, on behalf of the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin, made the request to the U.S. Department of Justice as well as the Wisconsin Department of Justice. The letter says that “thousands of young voters across Wisconsin” received the text message last week, including staff members at the League of Women Voters and students at the University of Wisconsin. The text in question cites Wisconsin state law prohibiting voting in more than one place and says that violating the law can result in fines of up to $10,000 and 3.5 years in prison. “Don’t vote in a state where you’re not eligible,” the text said. Read Article

Wisconsin: Federal judge orders Rusk County town to bring back voting machines for voters with disabilities in future elections | Rich Kremer/WPR

A federal judge has ordered the Rusk County Town of Thornapple to resume using electronic voting machines after the town’s board switched to hand-counting paper ballots in two elections this year. The order says the town violated federal law aimed at making voting easier for people with disabilities. A preliminary injunction issued Friday by Chief U.S. District Judge James Peterson for Wisconsin’s Western District, states that the town’s clerk and three-member board of supervisors violated the Help America Vote Act, or HAVA, by failing to provide at least one “voting system equipped for individuals with disabilities” at its single polling place in the April 2 and Aug. 13 elections. According to court documents, the town’s former clerk Suzanne Pinnow cited “the controversial nature of electronic voting machines” during a June 2023 town board meeting as part of the justification for moving to hand-counted, paper ballots. Read Article

Wisconsin Supreme Court rules that RFK Jr. must stay on November ballot | Alexander Shur/Votebeat

The Wisconsin Supreme Court rejected Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s request to have his name removed as an independent presidential candidate from the November ballot or covered with stickers, a relief for local clerks. The court on Friday upheld a decision by the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission to keep Kennedy — who dropped out on Aug. 23 and endorsed former President Donald Trump — on the ballot despite his request to drop out. The commission cited a law saying qualified nominees can only get off the ballot if they die. “It’s good to have that done so we could focus more on the election,” Waukesha County Clerk Meg Wartman, a Republican, said about the case. She said around 40,000 ballots had already gone out in the county, and some had already been returned. Read Article

Wisconsin: Department of Justice sues 2 Rusk County towns over accessible voting machines | Mary Spicuzza Jessie Opoien/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The U.S. Department of Justice has sued two northern Wisconsin towns accusing them of not having voting machines accessible to people with disabilities. The DOJ said it had reached an agreement with the Town of Lawrence to resolve its complaint, but not the Town of Thornapple. Both towns are in Rusk County. The complaint also said the State of Wisconsin failed to ensure every polling place within the state was accessible to voters with disabilities, as required by federal law. “Our democracy works when voters with disabilities have the right to vote on the same terms as any other voter. By failing to offer accessible voting systems, Thornapple and Lawrence shirked their responsibilities under the Help America Vote Act to provide equal access to the ballot for all voters,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division said in a statement. Read Article

Wisconsin Elections Commission spars over how absentee ballots must be returned on Election Day | Rich Kremer/WPR

During a sometimes tense meeting Tuesday, Republicans and Democrats on the Wisconsin Elections Commission battled over how absentee ballots from voters should get to clerks. The discussion stems from two complaints alleging clerks in Greenfield and Brookfield broke the law by requiring ballots to be delivered to the clerks’ offices rather than allowing voters to drop them off at their polling place. The clerks also ended drop-off times for absentee ballots before the close of in-person voting on election day. Draft memos from Wisconsin Elections Commission attorneys found the Greenfield and Brookfield clerks “abused” their discretion and didn’t follow state law, but because of a recent court ruling, the final decision had to come from the commission’s six-member board. Read Article

Wisconsin clerks in sticker shock over Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s request to have name covered on ballot | Alexander Shur/Votebeat

Wisconsin election officials are alarmed by a request from onetime presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. that may force them to apply stickers to cover up his name on millions of ballots, warning that it would be a big hassle to get the stickers on right, and could gum up the works on Election Day. The Wisconsin Elections Commission turned down Kennedy’s bid on Aug. 27 to get his name removed from the ballot, citing a state law that says qualified nominees must appear on the ballot unless they die. But Kennedy has asked a court to order that his name be removed or covered up on the ballot with a sticker, a task that would have to be overseen by municipal clerks around the state. Read Article

Wisconsin town faces new complaint over barriers to accessible voting | Tamia Fowlkes/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Disability Rights Wisconsin and the firm Law Forward have filed a complaint to the Wisconsin Elections Commission in response to the northern Wisconsin Town of Thornapple’s decision to eliminate electronic voting machines in this year’s April and August elections. The complaint comes a week after the U.S. Department of Justice threatened a lawsuit for the Rusk County towns of Lawrence and Thornapple for failing to offer voting equipment for people with disabilities. The complaint alleges that Suzanne Pinnow, Thornapple town clerk, violated the Help America Vote Act of 2002 by halting the usage of electronic voting machines for the April presidential primary. The suit argues that without an electronic voting machine, voters with disabilities have more limited options to cast a ballot privately and independently. Read Article

Wisconsin social studies teachers face restrictions, complaints for teaching elections | Beatrice Lawrence/WPR

Social studies teachers are returning to the classroom during the home stretch of a contentious election season in Wisconsin. On top of their back-to-school responsibilities, they’re navigating how to teach about the topic in a politically polarized state. Sarah Kopplin is a social studies teacher at Shorewood Intermediate School and president of the Wisconsin Council for the Social Studies. She said an alarming number of social studies teachers around the state have seen pushback on their lessons about elections and other current events. A survey from the council found 42 percent of council member respondents reported that building administration, school boards or community members lodged complaints or put restrictions on lessons related to politics, an election or current events, Kopplin said on WPR’s “Wisconsin Today.” Read Article

Wisconsin towns pass poll worker protections after state kills bill | Andrew Bahl/The Cap Times

In the small towns of Armstrong Creek and Caswell in rural Forest County, municipal clerk Tamaney “Sam” Augustin has only a small group of poll workers — and the ones she does have, she wants to keep safe. That’s why she insisted on making changes at one of the polling places in the two towns, which combined have fewer than 500 residents. When she took over as clerk in 2019, she told workers to move things around to position themselves near a door, fearing they would otherwise be unable to escape if an armed person came into the room. “You don’t want to think that something like that’s going to happen, but you have to be prepared,” Augustin said. “And what better way to disrupt elections and everything than to go into a small, rural area and do it, because that could put a whole new wrinkle into everything.” Read Article

Wisconsin: Ballot drop boxes prove popular as they return to some cities for the primary | Alexander Shur/Votebeat

They opened to fanfare, and closed on or just before election day, having fulfilled their purpose. Absentee ballot drop boxes were back in Wisconsin for the first time in over two years, and everything seemed to go just fine. For Tuesday’s primary, voters in many Wisconsin municipalities had their first opportunity in several elections to return their ballots to a drop box. That could have been at one of the 14 drop boxes in Madison, one of the 13 locations in Milwaukee, the red drop box outside of Racine’s City Hall, or one of the other drop boxes located in places from Onalaska to Rhinelander. Many municipalities that used to have drop boxes didn’t reopen them for this election for various reasons, from a rusted drop box lock to a lack of time — the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s July 5 decision unbanning them came less than six weeks before the primary. Many of those cities plan to have drop boxes available in November, though. Read Article

Under Wisconsin’s ‘drawdown’ election law, one person’s error can cost another person their vote | Alexander Shur/Votebeat

Consider this scenario: An absentee ballot in Wisconsin gets returned with an error, like the voter failing to sign the envelope, but it mistakenly gets counted anyway, because a municipal election worker initially didn’t catch the error when taking the ballot out of the envelope. Later, perhaps during a recount, a worker catches the error and has to mark that voter as invalid. And now the number of ballots in the counting pile is one greater than the number of valid voters. The solution? Just pull one random ballot out of the pile and set it aside to not be counted. Now the numbers match up. But someone — it’s impossible to know who — got their valid vote tossed. It may not seem fair, but it actually happens from time to time in Wisconsin — and almost nowhere else — because of an election law that’s nearly as old as the state. Election officials aren’t crazy about the practice, called a ballot drawdown, and say it is reserved only for extraordinary cases. Read Article

Wisconsin judge refuses GOP request to pause absentee voting ruling sought by disabled people | Scott Bauer/Associated Press

A judge refused Thursday to put on hold his ruling that allows disabled people in Wisconsin to be emailed absentee ballots at home in November’s presidential election in the closely watched battleground state. Republicans asked the judge to not enforce his ruling while their appeal is pending. But Dane County Circuit Judge Everett Mitchell on Thursday rejected their arguments, saying putting his ruling on hold “would inflict significant harm on both the disability rights advocates and the public interest.” It will now be up to the state appeals court to decide whether to pause the ruling that opens up a new way for an unknown number of disabled voters to cast their ballots in swing state Wisconsin before the Nov. 5 election. Read Article

Wisconsin: Appeals court makes it harder to disqualify absentee ballots | Todd Richmond/Associated Press

Absentee ballots still count in Wisconsin even if voters’ witnesses fail to give election clerks their full address, a state appeals court has ruled. The decision Thursday by the 4th District Court of Appeals is expected to expand the number of absentee ballots that will be counted in the battleground state with yet another tight presidential race looming in November. Each of the last two presidential elections in Wisconsin was decided by fewer than 23,000 votes. Polls show another close race this year between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. Biden campaign officials have said winning the so-called blue wall of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin offers the president the clearest path to victory. Read Article

Wisconsin rules on ballot drop boxes create opening for election challenges | Alexander Shur/Votebeat

Voters using Wisconsin’s newly legalized drop boxes may return only their own ballots, except in special cases, according to new guidance from the Wisconsin Elections Commission. That means even a voter dropping off a spouse’s ballot along with their own could be considered as having cast a ballot improperly. The rule could be difficult for municipal clerks to enforce. But it leaves an opening for potential challenges from conservative election activists, who are already preparing to act on suspicions that Democratic voters will abuse the boxes to commit fraud. Allegations of drop box misuse could also spur legal challenges to election results, experts say. In the run-up to this year’s elections, local officials are dealing with heavy scrutiny from election observers seeking to challenge absentee ballots, and Republicans have sought to increase the number of people monitoring drop boxes. Read Article

Wisconsin Supreme Court reinstates absentee ballot drop boxes | Lawrence Andrea and Molly Beck/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Wisconsin’s Supreme Court on Friday restored the use of absentee ballot drop boxes in the swing state ahead of the upcoming elections — a reversal of a past decision from the court that could impact voter participation. The 4-3 decision was a win for Democrats who argued the longstanding practice of allowing voters to file ballots into the locked, unmanned boxes made voting more accessible. That process, however, was highly criticized in 2020 by former President Donald Trump and Republicans who claimed without evidence that the boxes and absentee voting were rife with fraud. Read Article

Wisconsin judge allows disabled voters to electronically vote from home | Todd Richmond/Associated Press

Local election officials in battleground state Wisconsin will be allowed to send absentee ballots to disabled voters electronically in November’s presidential election, a judge ruled Tuesday. Dane County Circuit Judge Everett Mitchell issued a temporary injunction that allows voters who self-certify that they can’t read or mark a paper ballot without help to request absentee ballots electronically from local clerks. The voters can then cast their ballots at home using devices that help them read and write independently. They will still be required to mail the ballots back to the clerks or return them in person, the same as any other absentee voter in the state. More than 30 states allow certain voters to return their ballots either by fax, email or an online portal, according to data collected by the National Conference of State Legislatures and Verified Voting, a nonpartisan group that studies state voting systems. The method has expanded in recent years to include disabled voters in a dozen states. Experts have warned, however, that electronic ballot return carries risks of ballots being intercepted or manipulated and should be used sparingly. Read Article

Wisconsin election officials get some clarity on which tasks they’re allowed to outsource | Alexander Shur/Votebeat

Wisconsin election officials welcomed a clarification from the state attorney general this week on the scope of a constitutional amendment limiting who can conduct elections. But some local clerks and legal experts aren’t convinced that it’s enough to curb confusion over the measure or the risk of disruptive lawsuits. The short text of the amendment states, “No individual other than an election official designated by law may perform any task in the conduct of any primary, election, or referendum.” The opinion from Attorney General Josh Kaul, a Democrat, held that clerks can continue working with private vendors on tasks like ballot design, despite a conservative group suggesting — and clerks fearing — otherwise. The amendment “does not apply to more ordinary circumstances in which an election official works with or is assisted by non-election officials in ensuring the proper administration of an election,” Kaul said. He added that clerks can continue working with non-election officials to print ballots and enhance cybersecurity, and can use law enforcement personnel to transfer ballots. Read Article

Do Wisconsin elections have enough funding with one source cut off? | Government | Andrew Bahl/The Cap Times

Wisconsinites voted in April to ban election officials from accepting private grant money, a nod to controversy stemming from the 2020 election. Some are wondering if this should signal big changes to how Wisconsin funds voting, including more state dollars being pushed out to clerks. When voters approved the constitutional amendments, there was no requirement that any lost private grant funding would be replaced by public money. Local officials from both parties say increased state funding is a good idea, but it remains unclear if the state Legislature will be moved by their requests. “I’m very nervous because we’re looking forward to a presidential election,” said Rep. Lee Snodgrass, D-Appleton, the top Democrat on the Assembly Committee on Campaigns and Elections. “We know it’s going to be contentious. It’s the same people who were on the ballot last time. We know what happened the last time. Why wouldn’t we want these municipalities to have every single thing that they might possibly need for every circumstance that might come up?” Read Article

Wisconsin: Milwaukee council confirms election chief after staff said she struggles with basic procedures | Alexander Shur/Votebeat

The Milwaukee Common Council confirmed city election chief Paulina Gutiérrez on Tuesday after election staff had repeatedly voiced concerns about her appointment and one sent the mayor a letter a month ago saying she struggled to handle her job. Gutiérrez, who joined the Milwaukee Election Commission in 2023 after holding jobs unrelated to election administration, is now slated to lead it through four elections in the next five months, including the contentious 2024 presidential election. She was confirmed unanimously without debate. Through a public records request, Votebeat obtained two letters from staff members outlining concerns about Gutiérrez, which they sent after they learned of her coming appointment, in a surprise move that included the ousting of longtime director Claire Woodall. Read Article

Wisconsin: Constitutional amendment on election workers draws input from liberal, conservative groups | Henry Redman/Wisconsin Examiner

A constitutional amendment passed by Wisconsin voters in April that limits who is allowed to work on tasks related to the administration of an election has drawn questions from across the state on how it should be interpreted. In recent weeks, both liberal and conservative groups have weighed in on the state Department of Justice’s effort to provide clarity. The amendment was one of two approved by voters in April. Both drew criticism from Democrats that they sprouted from Republican conspiracy theories involving false claims of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election. One amendment banned the use of outside money for funding election administration. The other amendment, which passed in this year’s spring election with 58% of the vote, states that “only election officials designated by law may perform tasks in the conduct of primaries, elections, and referendums.” Election officials across the state have been seeking clarity on how the restriction should be applied. Read Article

Wisconsin: Milwaukee election shakeup triggers doubts about whether new leader is ready to run 2024 vote | Alexander Shur/Votebeat

Several members of Milwaukee’s election staff have voiced concerns to the mayor’s office about the inexperience of the new leader chosen to replace the Election Commission’s recently ousted executive director. The new head, Paulina Gutiérrez, became deputy director of the commission in 2023 and had worked in several other positions in city and state government before that. But during her tenure at the commission, she has not worked a federal general election. In addition to staff members raising concerns in a meeting with the mayor’s chief of staff and Gutiérrez herself, two employees wrote letters to the mayor’s office noting their doubts about whether she is equipped to lead the commission during a critical time in Wisconsin’s largest city, said a person close to the commission who requested anonymity to avoid professional consequences. Read Article

Wisconsin town under federal review after eliminating voting machines | Molly Beck/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The decision by a small board in the Town of Thornapple, Wisconsin, to eliminate electronic voting machines has drawn scrutiny from federal investigators, prompting questions about accessibility for voters with disabilities. The move to rely solely on hand-counted paper ballots, made in June 2023, has raised concerns about potential violations of federal laws mandating accessible voting options. The decision, which has roots in former President Donald Trump’s false claims about the 2020 presidential election, has led to a federal investigation and legal challenges. Despite assertions from town officials that assistance is available for voters with disabilities, advocacy groups argue that the removal of electronic machines restricts the ability of some voters to cast their ballots independently and privately. Read Article

Wisconsin Supreme Court to revisit ruling that banned most ballot drop boxes | Adam Edelman/NBC

The Wisconsin Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments Monday in a pivotal case that will determine the future of absentee ballot drop boxes in the battleground state’s elections. The case will give the court’s liberal majority the opportunity to reverse a ruling the court made less than two years ago — when conservatives held the majority — that significantly reduced the number of absentee ballot drop boxes in the state. If the court’s current 4-3 liberal majority overturns that ruling, it could result in a return of the widespread use of absentee ballot drop boxes for the upcoming presidential election. Read Article

Wisconsin: What we know about Milwaukee’s election plans after Claire Woodall | Alison Dirr and Mary Spicuzza/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Following Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson’s announcement that Election Commission Executive Director Claire Woodall would not be reappointed, little information has surfaced regarding plans to ensure a smooth presidential election in November. Johnson intends to nominate Election Commission Deputy Director Paulina Gutiérrez to lead the commission, providing assurances of staff, equipment funding, and city government support for polling locations and absentee ballot counting. Despite concerns about the transition, Johnson expresses confidence in Gutiérrez’s capabilities, amid intense scrutiny on Milwaukee’s election administration, particularly given former President Trump’s claims of “illegal votes” in 2020 and expected challenges in the upcoming election rematch. Read Article

Wisconsin Republicans recruiting legion of monitors to observe polls, set stage for lawsuits | Molly Beck/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The Republican National Committee and Trump campaign are set to mobilize tens of thousands of volunteers and attorneys to monitor and potentially challenge voting processes in battleground states like Wisconsin, echoing former President Donald Trump’s baseless election claims and positioning the effort as a response to alleged “Democrat tricks” from the 2020 election. GOP officials aim to recruit 100,000 individuals nationwide for observing election processes, conducting regular training sessions, and focusing on various aspects of the electoral process, including early voting, absentee ballot processing, and post-election procedures. Read Article