Election 2020 in Wisconsin: Thank You Meagan Wolfe

Though President Trump's enablers will continue to file frivolous lawsuits, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers' certification of Joe Biden's victory in the state makes a reversal of that result unlikely. While anyone has a right to file lawsuits designed to thwart the will of the people, it's hard to disagree with Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul's assessment of the effort as a "disgraceful Jim Crow strategy for mass disenfranchisement of voters." 

A major feature of the modern Jim Crow strategy for mass disenfranchisement of voters is to sow doubt about the integrity of the process. Absentee ballots, early in-person voting, and election day registration--all of which should be heralded as pro-democracy efforts to ensure the highest possible voter turnout--are fiercely opposed by Jim Crow's heirs. When they fail to overturn pro-democracy voting procedures in the courts, the Crowers go on a propaganda offensive: "if people can vote more easily, we invite fraud and rigged elections." This is potentially a "winning" strategy for the Jim Crow team in two ways: (1) the propaganda can depress voter turnout and thus increase the chances of pro-Crow candidate victories; (2) even if the anti-Crow candidate wins, the propaganda makes people question his or her legitimacy. If Jim Crow wins, "the voters have spoken." If Jim Crow loses, "the election was rigged." Heads I win, tails you lose. 

Wisconsin's November election was secure and fair because of the integrity shown by the over 1800 election officials in the state, the magnificent poll workers, national guard troops who provided outstanding pandemic assistance, and of course the voters who refused to have their franchise stolen from them. One person deserving of special thanks is Wisconsin's Election Administrator Meagan Wolfe. Across all media, Administrator Wolfe has rejected fraud and other irresponsible claims by calmly stating the facts of the elections process. She's performed so competently and professionally that it's almost unbelievable the Trumpeters have not yet called for her to be fired. 

Meagan Wolfe has done an admirable job of challenging misinformation and disinformation spread about Wisconsin's elections procedures by Trump toadies. 

It's worth recalling how Meagan Wolfe obtained the position of Elections Commission Administrator in the first place. Wisconsin once had a nonpartisan Government Accountability Board, created after the legislative corruption scandals of the late 1990s and early 2000s and composed of retired judges. The  GAB became a national role model of how to liberate elections and ethics issues from the grasp of self-interested partisans. The GAB did its job so well that the state Republican Party declared war on it. In 2015 they eliminated the GAB and went back to a hyper-partisan State Elections Commission model. Attorney Michael Haas was endorsed unanimously by the Republicans and Democrats on the Commission to serve as Administrator, but he was unacceptable to the legislature's Republican leadership because he was part of the legal staff of the GAB when it investigated abuses that took place during the Scott Walker recall election cycle. 

Jay Heck of Common Cause in Wisconsin explained to Wisconsin Watch why the legislature wanted to replace the independent GAB with the partisan State Elections Commission: "The Wisconsin Elections Commission serves at the pleasure of the legislative leadership and to some extent the governor. So they are -- I'm not going to say pawns, I hesitate to use the word pawns--but they are certainly subservient to the will of the legislative leaders and the governor by design. That's just how the system is set up."

It's clear that Republican leaders in the state want an administrator at the WEC with pawn-like qualities who either endorses their election rhetoric, enables it, or at least turns a blind eye toward it. They have gotten none of that from Meagan Wolfe. Instead, she has consistently and repeatedly corrected any and all nonsense spread about elections in Wisconsin. In a post-election press release, she responded to the election misinformation being spread on political websites and social media: 

“Wisconsin’s election was conducted according to law and in the open . . . When issues are reported to our office, we take them very seriously.  We look into each allegation and request evidence from parties involved.  At this time, no evidence has been provided that supports allegations of systemic or widespread election issues . . . Unfortunately, we are seeing many concerns that result from this unsubstantiated misinformation.  We want Wisconsin’s voters to know we hear their concerns and to provide facts on these processes to combat the rumors and misinformation." On November 10, a week after the election, Wolfe and her staff released a point-by-point refutation of the misinformation swirling around mainstream and social media. 

Video: Meagan Wolfe Interview on Here and Now:

Contrast Meagan Wolfe's statements with what's been spewing from the Wisconsin GOP. Instead of thanking election administrators for their competence and a job well done during a pandemic that made their jobs more challenging than ever, they have called for investigations and even suggested the possibility of awarding the state's electoral votes to President Trump.

When first appointed to her position, Administrator Wolfe said,  “I feel a duty to the voters, local election officials and candidates to continue Wisconsin’s proud tradition of administering fair, secure and transparent elections that everyone can have confidence in.” There's not been one shred of credible evidence presented that the election was anything less than fair, secure, and transparent. Yet this is what we get from Assembly Speaker Robin Vos: 

I am directing the Assembly Committee on Campaigns and Elections to use its investigatory powers to immediately review how the statewide election was administered. There should be no question as to whether the vote was fair and legitimate.https://t.co/J7Cvjqkm8k

— Speaker Robin Vos (@SpeakerVos) November 6, 2020

If you only call for election investigations when your side loses, then people will naturally question your sincerity. It's long past time for the Republican Party leadership in Wisconsin to accept the results of the presidential election. Even better, they should commit themselves to REAL election reform that would include things like drawing fair election maps, automatic voter registration, instant runoff voting, and all mail elections. 

Meagan Wolfe did an outstanding job of administering an election according to the rules currently in existence. Along with over 1800 election officials in the state, she has acted with integrity every step of the way. She's been an important fact-check source on all media platforms. She has had the voters' backs. If the GOP comes after her for being competent, nonpartisan, and professional, we need to be ready to have hers.