For the second time since Election Day 2020, uniformed police officers will be on duty when ballot counting begins in Green Bay’s local elections. It’s the result of tension building for over a year in the city, which has become ground zero for election conspiracy theories in a battleground state still consumed by the last presidential race. Furor that started over the use of private funds to help a cash-strapped local government run the 2020 election soon morphed into something darker than normal political disagreement, including a report of a “suspicious person” who improperly accessed the clerk’s office on Election Day 2020, according to city government emails obtained by POLITICO. Now, Green Bay’s nonpartisan city council races — traditionally quiet affairs that focus on taxes and roads — feature ads from a GOP super PAC questioning whether the city’s elections are legitimate and a Democratic super PAC urging voters to “keep Wisconsin elections fair, secure and accessible.” Threats to local officials increased, and some poll workers have dropped out of the election, citing safety concerns. Officials installed cameras on every floor of city hall and formulated evacuation plans, after the November 2020 incident in the clerk’s office and the gathering of protesters outside city hall on Jan. 6., 2021. A mayoral recall effort is underway.
Wisconsin Elections Commission withdraws guidance on fixing ballot errors following court ruling | Molly Beck/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The Wisconsin Elections Commission on Tuesday withdrew guidance clerks have operated under for six years to fill in missing address information on absentee ballots, a move to comply with a recent court ruling declaring such practices illegal. Commissioners voted 4-1 to withdraw the guidance hours after Waukesha County Circuit Judge Michael Aprahamian rejected Democrats’ motion to keep his Sept. 7 ruling from taking effect before the November election. Aprahamian ruled state law does not allow election clerks to fill in missing information on witness certification envelopes that contain absentee ballots, a decision that is expected to be appealed by Democrats who argued Tuesday that such rules should not change so close to an election. The ruling is a victory for Republican lawmakers who have spent months pushing for tighter voting rules since former President Donald Trump’s 2020 loss to President Joe Biden, a contest decided by about 21,000 votes in a battleground state crucial to both parties’ pursuit of power. The decision, which comes two months before the next election, is likely heading to the state Supreme Court, which is controlled by conservative justices.
Full Article: Elections Commission withdraws guidance on fixing ballot errors
