Here & Now

Elections Administrator Responds to 2020 Claims

Frederica Freyberg:

What does the administrator of the Elections Commission think about all of this? We ask her. Meagan Wolfe joins us now. Thanks a lot for being here.

Meagan Wolfe:

Thanks for having me.

Frederica Freyberg:

So what is your response to Michael Gableman calling for you to be fired?

Meagan Wolfe:

I think a lot of what was said and a lot of what is in this report is just a complete misrepresentation of Wisconsin election law, federal election law, election administration and technology. And I think that the claims were made and the report itself has very minimal utility because of these misrepresentations.

Frederica Freyberg:

At the hearing, Gableman said that grant funding from the Center for Tech and Civic Life, which he calls “Zucker bucks,” were a pretext to unfairly turn out Black vote in Milwaukee. Let’s take a listen to what he said.

Michael Gableman:

In order to win the next election, the Democrats were going to have to go to Milwaukee and turn out the African-American vote. And that’s what this money was for, and that’s the heart of this partisan effort.

Frederica Freyberg:

What is your response to that? Was that illegal?

Meagan Wolfe:

The issue of private grant funding in elections and the acceptance of them by municipalities was an issue that has been decided by multiple courts. I believe there have been three court decisions that have said that the law does not prohibit local election officials from accepting private grant funds.

Frederica Freyberg:

So Gableman also spent a long time during his hearing playing videos of nursing home residents about how they would vote. With them, mostly unable to answer. The point was to say the Elections Commission decision to not allow voting deputies in the nursing homes during the pandemic resulted in ineligible voters illegally casting ballots. What’s your reaction, first of all, to these video presentations during the hearing representative Gableman said of 92,000 people in care facilities across the state.

Meagan Wolfe:

I think we need in order to respond to these to back to the election law, which says that a court has to specifically adjudicate somebody incompetent for voting purposes. So having some type of a guardianship order or even if a family member doesn’t believe that somebody’s capable, unless there is a court order that says somebody is not competent to vote, their right to vote is still in place. And I know these are difficult decisions. I’m certainly — can sympathize with people that are frustrated by the law, but there would need to be a change to the law if there was a desire to see some different measure utilized. There’s no testing that’s given to any voter before they’re able to cast their ballot. There is the law, though, which says that somebody has to be adjudicated by a judge incompetent before their right to vote can be removed.

Frederica Freyberg:

What was it like to see those videos during that hearing of those people in those nursing homes being basically deposed?

Meagan Wolfe:

I felt a little upset watching it because it did feel like those people were being exploited, because again, there’s no test that’s required to be able to cast your ballot. There’s no test for anyone before they’re able to cast their ballot, but there is the law that says somebody has to be adjudicated by a court. Because the right to vote, it’s a sacred right, and that’s taken very seriously, so the law says in order for that right to be removed, there has to be a court order.

Frederica Freyberg:

Meanwhile, the former justice’s investigation has subpoenaed you and others for a private deposition and you are suing over that. Why are you suing?

Meagan Wolfe:

I would be very pleased to talk to the Office of Special Counsel in a public forum. As a matter of fact, I believe it was just last week that I did provide testimony to the Assembly Committee on Elections. And so we remain committed to having these discussions with lawmakers, with the public, about how our election in 2020 was conducted with integrity. But those conversations have to happen in public. Every aspect of elections happens in public, in a public forum, and I don’t believe that this review should be any different.

Frederica Freyberg:

As you just said, you’ve testified many times before the legislature on the matter of the 2020 election. What do you want the public to hear about whether it was conducted illegally or is suspect or the process should be changed?

Meagan Wolfe:

You know, I really encourage everyone to engage with the facts about elections. You have a local election authority in every single city, town and village in Wisconsin. Ask questions, get involved, every aspect of elections is publicly observable. And so you’re able to watch those things, whether it’s testing the voting equipment or counting of the absentee ballots, those are all publicly observable. And I would also note that every decision of the Wisconsin Elections Commission is made in a bipartisan manner and is made in a public forum. So there are really great opportunities here to see how elections are run, to learn more, and I encourage everybody to do that.

Frederica Freyberg:

Meagan Wolfe, thanks very much for joining us.

Meagan Wolfe:

Thank you.