Here & Now

Don Millis on the Wisconsin Elections Commission

Frederica Freyberg:

The Wisconsin primary election is less than a month away and the agency tasked with making elections go in this state is busily trying to interpret court rulings and other guidance. But meanwhile, the Wisconsin Elections Commission remains in the eye of the election fraud storm, as all three Republican candidates for governor support getting rid of the commission following its election guidance during the peak of the pandemic. Enter new Wisconsin Elections Commission Chair Republican Don Millis. He joins us now and thanks very much for being here.

Don Millis:

My pleasure to be here.

Frederica Freyberg:

So what is it like to enter as the new chair of the commission when people in your own party want to do away with it?

Don Millis:

There’s a lot of catching up to do. We’re trying to make the best of what we have. Whether or not the commission goes away is certainly a controversial issue. There are folks, Republicans, who want to get rid of the commission. There are other ones who want to keep it. Whether the commission stays or goes is beyond my pay grade. My role is to make sure we run an efficient and honest election in August and in the general. That’s — that’s really all I can do. I can’t look beyond that.

Frederica Freyberg:

So what do you think, though? What is your position on the idea of abolishing the elections commission?

Don Millis:

Well, I don’t have — I really don’t have a — I haven’t given it much thought. I do think, and I was on the record in 2016 when I was first appointed when the commission was created, that the Elections Commission was a serious upgrade over the Government Accountability Board. I also served on the prior agency. So my biggest concern about the commission is that we seem to be deadlocked on all the important — important issues of the day. And my warning to other commissioners is if there’s a chance to keep the commission, we better start working together.

Frederica Freyberg:

In fact, just this week, this issue that you speak to of the deadlock because there are three Democrats and three Republicans on the commission, you end up with a deadlock. Now, Republicans like yourself wanted to offer guidance to clerks after the Supreme Court ruled absentee ballot drop boxes are illegal. Dems said that guidance would confuse clerks more than help. What about these deadlocks on the commission? Does that set up render it ineffective in your mind?

Don Millis:

It does. I mean I thought it was outrageous that the commission couldn’t agree to issue a staff — these are career civil service staff who tried to distill a 141-page decision with two concurrences. A decision that’s very complicated, distilled it to a page and a half that we could give out to the 1800-plus clerks, most of them, the vast majority of whom don’t have lawyers to go to consult with. And the very fact we couldn’t do something so basic doesn’t — doesn’t bode well for the future of the commission.

Frederica Freyberg:

Why did you in particular want to offer that guidance to clerks?

Don Millis:

Clerks, the vast majority of clerks work very hard. They have a lot of roles. They have to deal with other agencies of state government. Elections is a very important, perhaps the most important part of their job. But it’s not the only part of their job. And the Election Commission exists, one of the — for a primary reason to provide guidance to clerks. This was a very well-written page and 1/2 memo that would have distilled what they can and cannot do with drop boxes. There’s a lot of information out there, not all of it good. This information was accurate and should have been provided to the clerks.

Frederica Freyberg:

What, in a nutshell, was the guidance?

Don Millis:

The guidance says — commission interpreted the decision that you cannot have unstaffed drop boxes that — statutes require that absentee ballots be returned in person by the elector. That was the guidance. And that’s — basically what the Supreme Court ruled. And we tried to make it clear and so that we could address those questions.

Frederica Freyberg:

What about the issue raised by disability rights advocates that federal law, they say, protects the right of disabled people to get help mailing their ballot or deliver it to the clerk?

Don Millis:

We agree. In fact, the Republicans offered to add to the guidance a provision that would remind clerks of the requirements of the federal law, that requires — that overrides state law, that clerks must make accommodations for people who are illiterate, who are blind, or disabled. That’s the language of the federal law. And that guidance was even shot down. Three Democrats wouldn’t even agree to put that into the guidance.

Frederica Freyberg:

Among the Republicans on the commission right now is Bob Spindell who was one of the false electors for Trump now getting attention, as you know, from the January 6th Committee and possibly the U.S. Justice Department. What is your comment on Wisconsins slate of false electors?

Don Millis:

Well, Im reluctant to talk about that. There is a lawsuit that’s pending. The commission — there was a complaint filed with the commission. The commission dismissed the complaint on a 6-0 vote. The complainants are suing the commission including Commissioner Spindell in court. The commission staff have recused themselves. And one of the unpleasant duties that I have as commission chair is I am quarterbacking that case and the outside attorneys are reporting to me. So Im not going to comment on it. I do agree, I will agree, though, that I thought the commission’s decision was correct, that the ultimate slate of electors, as far as I can tell, did not violate any Wisconsin law that was presented in that complaint.

Frederica Freyberg:

What about calls to decertify the 2020 election?

Don Millis:

The — even the counsel representing the prevailing party in the drop box cases, counsel there have conceded that there’s nothing that can be done right now to decertify the 2020 election. As far as I can tell, the commission has no role at this point in dealing with the 2020 election. My job has been to look forward. We have — seems to me despite many advances in election technology, our confidence in election results is at an all-time low. In 2016, I was sued because, among others, because of the many people on the left felt that Hillary Clinton won Wisconsin and in 2020 you have the same thing where people on the right believed that Donald Trump won. Right now the commission has no role in that. My job is to look forward and try to enhance the public’s confidence in elections.

Frederica Freyberg:

I trust that you do believe that Joe Biden legitimately won the presidency?

Don Millis:

I have my personal feelings on that. It seems that every time Im asked about my role on the commission, that’s one of the questions that is asked of me. Clearly, the Supreme Court decided that there were things that were untoward in terms of the drop boxes. Whether that had an impact on the election results — I don’t know that there’s any evidence of that but Im not going to opine on whether or not, in my role as head of the commission that one candidate won over another. I’m trying to look forward.

Frederica Freyberg:

Don Millis, thank you very much.

Don Millis:

Thank you.