Inconclusive Senate Committee Hearing on Status of Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator

Wednesday, August 30th, 2023 -- 1:00 PM

(Bob Hague, WRN) At the Capitol, the status of Wisconsin’s chief elections officer remains in doubt.

A public hearing on Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Meagan Wolfe opened with Beloit Democrat Mark Spreitzer arguing there was no nomination for the Senate committee to vote on. “This committee cannot take up a nomination that has not been made and so I make a point of order that this nomination is not properly before us.”

Committee chair, Germantown Republican Dan Knodl, rejected the opinion by attorneys for the legislature. “And they're just that, they are opinions. This is not a court of law, here it is a public hearing.”

Rock County Clerk Lisa Tollefson, “Her strength and knowledge, her ability to run a tight ship and keep things running amid immense intense pressure is amazing.”

But former state Supreme Court Justice Micheal Gableman, whose investigation failed to uncover malfeasance in the 2020 election, was critical. “The record speaks for itself, and nothing speaks as highly as the fact that she didn't come here today to tell you about all the good work she's been doing.”

In the end, committee chair, Republican state Senator Dan Knodl, said he hasn’t decided whether to hold a vote on Wolfe’s continued tenure at WEC. A vote to remove her would likely end up in court.

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