Wisconsin Republicans seek to remove elections administrator

Republicans in Wisconsin took the first step to remove that State’s Administrator of Elections after Democrats on the Election Commission declared she could serve indefinitely if that were her choice.

The Wisconsin elections debacle

Specifically the Republican-controlled Wisconsin State Senate approved a resolution deeming Elections Administrator Meagan Wolfe as renominated for another term.

Elections Administrators serve for four-year terms, which by statute end on July 1 of the year before a Presidential Election. Under State law and Constitution, the Elections Commission nominates new Elections Administrators shortly before the expiration of the current term. The apparent problem is that Republicans want Meagan Wolfe out of that position, saying she mishandled the Election of 2020. Joe Biden carried the State by 20,682 votes amid a slew of irregularities. (The State Supreme Court has declared the results of the Election of 2020 illegitimate, citing multiple breaches of election law. Among other things, they cited ballot drop boxes, for which the law does not provide.) Republicans in 2021 called upon Wolfe to resign, which she refused to do.

Democrats on the Commission want her to remain. But they know that if the Commission formally renominates her, the Senate will not concur, and her tenure will end. To forestall this, three Democrats on the six-member Commission “abstained” from the nomination vote. The three Republicans voted to renominate, but without a simple majority, no nomination has taken place. After that, one of those “abstaining” Commissioners said he would “take [his] shot with the courts rather than the Senate.” Or in plain monosyllables, “So sue us.”

Instead, the Wisconsin Senate passed Senate Resolution 3, simply declaring Wolfe renominated.

A prior history

The resolution notes that the Elections Commission did this once before, in the case of Administrator Michael Haas. When the commission failed to notify the Senate of the nomination of Haas, the Senate deemed him nominated. They then rejected the nomination, thereby terminating Haas’ term.

The Governor of Wisconsin has no authority either to nominate Elections Administrators or to countermand the Senate in such matters.

With the passage of Resolution 3, Wolfe’s “nomination” now goes to the State Senate Committee on Shared Revenue, Elections and Consumer Protection. That Committee will “hear” the nomination, and then the Senate will call an “Extraordinary Session.” As with Elections Administrator nominations, the Governor may not interfere with this.

Ironically, the same Democrats who said, “So sue us,” are threatening to sue the Senate to keep Wolfe in place.

The Gateway Pundit contributed most of the source material, except for:

1. The text of Senate Resolution 3,
2. The opinion of the Wisconsin Supreme Court deeming the election illegitimate,
3. CNAV’s article reporting on that ruling, and
4. Reportage by Station WEAU-TV, Channel 13 (NBC), Eau Claire; and WisPolitics.