Here & Now

Keeping Track of Political Furor Over the 2020 Election

Frederica Freyberg:

Everything these days is politicized, but nothing more than the 2020 election. Audits, investigations, subpoenas and court cases. And that’s just in Wisconsin. With the number of headlines that come out daily, it can be difficult to keep up. Marisa Wojcik takes us through it.

Marisa Wojcik:

Of the myriad election-related news, here are some updates on some of the main areas. When it comes to election grant funding, Wisconsin Republicans this week moved forward with a constitutional amendment to ban grant funding that would help municipalities to run elections. This is after the state’s five largest and Democratic cities received millions more from a private donation than the smaller municipalities did to help administer the 2020 election in the midst of a pandemic. In the way of false electors, the congressional committee investigating the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has subpoenaed two Wisconsin Republicans for their “role and participation in the purported slate of electors casting votes for Donald Trump.” Andrew Hitt, the chairman of the Republican Party of Wisconsin, and Kelly Ruh, chairwoman of the state’s eighth congressional district GOP, were part of the ten Republican electors who drew up false paperwork, casting the state’s electoral ballots for Trump. In a statement, Hitt said he would voluntarily comply with this committee. On the issue of drop boxes, after a tie vote, the Wisconsin Elections Commission has left in place guidance over absentee ballot drop boxes. However, the state Supreme Court will consider whether drop boxes are legal, but not until after the February 15th election. The high court had weighed into the matter after a Waukesha county judge barred the use of drop boxes, and then an appeals court suspended that Waukesha order. What with the upcoming election for Milwaukee mayor and other local offices across the state. As for missing absentee ballot information, another product of the massive increase in absentee ballot use in the 2020 election led to people incorrectly filling out personal information on the ballot’s envelope, typically missing a portion of that person’s address, leading clerks to fill in some of it using registration information or Google maps to find a missing zip code. On Monday the commission voted 4-2 to keep this practice in place. As for the special council’s election investigation, former Supreme Court justice Michael Gableman continues to be scrutinized for his investigation into the 2020 election. The Republican assembly speaker authorized the probe at taxpayer expense. Gableman’s onslaught of subpoenas includes the mayors of Wisconsin’s five largest cities, two companies that manufacture ballot-counting machines, Wisconsin Election Commission Administrator Meagan Wolfe, immigrant advocacy group Voces de La Frontera, Governor Tony Evers’ administration, and a number of other local government officials. State Attorney General Josh Kaul filed suit, saying Gableman is exceeding his authority by demanding private depositions for his overly broad document demands. And finally, in response to recommendations from the Legislative Audit Bureau that a number of issues need addressing to shore up Wisconsin election laws, State Senator Kathy Bernier has introduced legislation to address some items, such as special voting deputies, and indefinitely confined voters.

Frederica Freyberg:

In a related matter, the Wisconsin Supreme Court today ruled it will not take up a lawsuit from Republican candidate for governor Rebecca Kleefisch. Kleefisch was challenging guidance from the Elections Commission on absentee ballot procedures relating to drop boxes and other issues. Justice Brian Hagedorn joined the three liberal justices in the decision. As we’ve reported, a separate case on ballot drop boxes is before the high court.