Elections

Paul Farrow on Wisconsin voters and 2022 election security

Republican Party of Wisconsin Chair Paul Farrow discusses why the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election and how voting is conducted in the state continue to be significant in partisan politics.

By Zac Schultz | Here & Now

November 7, 2022

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Paul Farrow:
You know, when you look at it, election integrity has been a great topic for everybody to get some fodder both ways. When I look back at the 2020 election, there were some challenges. We know there are issues that are there that we have to figure out how to regulate and how to make sure it doesn't happen again. What I can say from the Republican side, back in 2020, we had about 1,300 poll workers or election officials that are statutoral. We are well over 5,000 this time around. We've got a lot more eyes that are watching the process. We're not under an emergency order like we were in 2020. So there's more routine and kind of the back to the standard. But I will say that we see it across the board, at all the counties that I go to, more people wanna know, "What can I do? Can I be a poll observer, an election official, what can I do to make a difference?" And as I have told people, if you see something that's an anomaly, you're not quite sure, say something about it. Bring it up, if you're at the polls, to the election inspectors, to the clerk. But challenge what's going on. In the last couple of cycles, we look at the spring of '21 or '22, and then this primary, there were situations that flared up. The individuals reached out to the clerk right away. Our team here of lawyers reached out and within less than an hour we had solutions. And I think that's the way it's always worked in the past, and it'll continue to work, but it's making sure that we've got the eyes and ears out there that's really helping us.

Zac Schultz
I mean that's an incredible jump in numbers, from 1300 to 5,000.

Paul Farrow
Yeah, it shows a passion. It shows the people in Wisconsin wanna make sure they have open, fair, and safe elections. They wanna make sure there's the transparency. And having more and more people willing to step up and do that, I think is a realization that they're passionate about making sure that Wisconsin's on the right track as we maintain those elections.


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