Here & Now

Meagan Wolfe on Preparing for Wisconsin's 2022 Fall Election

Frederica Freyberg:

In election news, a federal judge in Madison this week ruled Wisconsin voters with disabilities can get help returning their ballots citing the federal Voting Rights Act. That decision after the state Supreme Court ruled only the voter could return an absentee ballot to the mailbox or clerk’s office. Also this week, the Wisconsin Elections Commission unanimously approved a proposal to seek $1.3 million to hire ten people and create an Elections Inspector General program. How will any of this square with Republican members of the state legislature who have had the commission in their sights for its guidance during the 2020 election? For more on this, administrator of the Wisconsin Election Commission Meagan Wolfe. Thank you for being here.

Meagan Wolfe:

Thank you for having me.

Frederica Freyberg:

First, what is your response to the federal court ruling for voters with disabilities?

Meagan Wolfe:

The commission will formally respond at a special meeting to be conducted on September 6th at 6:00 p.m. Part of the judge’s ruling was to direct the commission to provide additional information and guidance to voters with disabilities about the exact mechanics of how they can choose an assister to help them mail or deliver their absentee ballot. So the commission will be meeting in public in open session on September 6th to have that conversation.

Frederica Freyberg:

The court also directed clerks to be notified by next Friday of the guidance. Does a voter have to somehow prove their disability to get this help?

Meagan Wolfe:

That will be part of the conversation that’s had at the commission meeting but it does not appear that that would be most likely appropriate or something that would be part of that process. But voters do have the opportunity to choose someone to be able to assist them under both state and federal law.

Frederica Freyberg:

As to the unanimous approval for more than $1 million and inspector general for the Elections Commission, why is that needed?

Meagan Wolfe:

So I really think it’s a result of needs. It’s a really needs-driven proposal. In the last few years, we’ve really seen that the election landscape has changed dramatically. The request and the demands upon our agency have shifted. We have seen such a tremendous increase in people asking for additional information. And the commission even, their desire to increase things like the audits that our agency conducts. And so this proposal, and now the commission’s unanimous approval of this proposal, really places before lawmakers and the governor in the 2023 budget-making process a couple of questions. The first is, do they want to see an increase in the number of voting equipment audits that are conducted? Do they want to see an expansion in programs like our accessibility audits? And do they want the commission to engage in additional checks, reviews, independent audits of voter data and voter rolls? And if the answer is yes to those questions, then we need to ask for funding for those programs through the state budget process.

Frederica Freyberg:

And is there something specific the inspector general would do?

Meagan Wolfe:

So the inspector general would be the head of that department. Under that department, they would have various staff that would be looking into — they might be data experts. They might be experts on accessibility audits. They might be experts on voting equipment and certification in other aspects of that program and the inspector general would be the one that is supervising that work as is directed by the commission and through the structure of the agency.

Frederica Freyberg:

Here’s what Representative Janel Brandtjen said about it. “This is clearly a page out of Robin Vos’ playbook… offering a purely cosmetic fix while pretending it will solve the problems of this rogue agency.” So given that kind of persuasion, what happens, in your mind, if this money isn’t approved?

Meagan Wolfe:

If this money isn’t approved then we won’t be able to expand into those additional areas. And I think that would be a real shame for Wisconsin voters and even for lawmakers because we want to be able to provide additional information, additional opportunities to engage with election information, additional transparency. But in order for us to take on these new additional tasks, we need to see additional funding. Sustainable funding through the state budget process.

Frederica Freyberg:

Speaking of critic Brandtjen, she is holding a hearing next week on why the commission is reinstating 31,000 previously inactive voters to the voters’ registration list. Why are they being put back on the rolls?

Meagan Wolfe:

That is a great question. And it is actually a result of the state Supreme Court decision, the Zignego decision. After that decision was handed down, the commission had before it two questions. One was what to do with folks that were identified by ERIC as potentially moving and were sent a mailer. What to do with them moving forward? And the court said that is a municipal clerk responsibility. So the commission gave guidance to the municipal clerks to take action on those records. The second question that was before the commission is what to do with the voters that had already been deactivated and where the court said it was a municipal clerk responsibility, not a responsibility of the Elections Commission. And in that case, there was a follow up lawsuit and as part of that lawsuit, there was a stipulation that those voters would be reactivated.

Frederica Freyberg:

Complicated stuff. Meagan Wolfe thank you.

Meagan Wolfe:

Thank you.

Frederica Freyberg:

In related news, the state Justice Department Thursday criminally charged Harry Waite of Union Grove with felony election fraud in connection with his requesting absentee ballots for two other people. Charging papers say he could face more than 12 years in prison.