A Battle Looms Regarding the Head of the Wisconsin Elections Commission

Wednesday, June 14th, 2023 -- 12:00 PM

(AP) Who will oversee the 2024 presidential election in the critical battleground state of Wisconsin remains clouded with uncertainty just weeks before the state’s nonpartisan top elections official reaches the end of her term.

Republicans who control the state Legislature could finally have a chance to oust the elections head they’ve sparred with over conspiracy theories and install their own appointee. But a recent state Supreme Court ruling appears to offer her an avenue to get around Republicans and stay in office.

And that’s if Meagan Wolfe, administrator of the Wisconsin Elections Commission and one of the most respected election leaders in the nation, even wants to keep the job when her term ends on July 1.

All across the country, election officials have left the profession after an unrelenting 2020 election cycle that brought unprecedented challenges related to the coronavirus pandemic but also an onslaught of harassment and death threats triggered by false claims about voting and elections.

Wolfe has declined to comment on whether she plans to seek reappointment. The situation plays out as both parties are looking for every advantage they can get in Wisconsin, where the presidential winner has been determined by less than 1 percentage point in four of the last six elections.

The outcome of the 2020 election in Wisconsin has withstood two partial recounts, a nonpartisan audit, a conservative law firm’s review, numerous state and federal lawsuits, and a Republican-ordered review that found no evidence of widespread fraud before the investigator was fired.

The GOP-controlled Legislature has rejected attempts to decertify the results. Unlike most states, where partisan secretaries of state run elections, Wisconsin’s top elections official is the nonpartisan administrator of the statewide elections commission.

This person plays a crucial role in carrying out decisions from a panel of six partisan commissioners and giving guidance to the more than 1,800 local clerks who actually run the state’s elections.

The administrator can’t single-handedly reverse election results, or decide not to certify results, but a partisan appointee who embraces conspiracy theories about elections could cause significant trouble.

Such an appointee could publicly promote election lies, push the limits of their freedom to interpret instructions from commissioners and hire partisan staff and legal counsel within the commission. Wolfe got the job in 2018 after her predecessor was rejected by the Senate.

How she handled the 2020 election angered Republicans, who had voted unanimously in 2019 to confirm her. If she seeks reappointment when her term ends, “there’s no way” she will be confirmed by the state Senate, said Senate President Chris Kapenga, a Republican.

Senate rejection of her confirmation carries the effect of firing her. If Wolfe’s position becomes vacant, election commissioners can recommend a new administrator for Senate approval. If 45 days pass without a nomination, a legislative committee controlled by Republicans can appoint a temporary administrator for up to a year.

But for lawmakers to stall the process in order to install a partisan administrator is “extraordinarily hypothetical,” according to Kathy Bernier, a former Republican state senator and county election official who chaired the Senate elections committee during the 2020 election and was outspoken against claims of election fraud.

In a statement, Wolfe called it “deeply disappointing that a small minority of lawmakers continue to misrepresent my work.” “Lawmakers should assess my performance on the facts, not on tired, false claims,” Wolfe said.

If Wolfe wants to avoid the possibility of Senate Republicans rejecting her confirmation, she could decide to simply stay in office without asking for reappointment. A conservative majority on the state Supreme Court ruled last year that lawmakers can’t replace an appointed official until their position is vacant and that the end of a term is not a vacancy.

The sweeping 4-3 decision allowed Republicans to maintain conservative control of policy boards by delaying votes for Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ nominations. That path would raise unexplored legal questions, but the ruling appears to imply that Wolfe could only be removed by impeachment or a vote by a majority of the elections commissioners.

Senate Republicans in April gained the two-thirds supermajority they need to convict an office holder at an impeachment trial.

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