Brief

Oversight committee Republicans vote to move elections commission to Wausau

By: Henry Redman - October 6, 2021 3:45 pm

Wisconsin Elections Commission poll worker training. (Photo: WEC)

Republican representatives on the Assembly Committee on Government Accountability and Oversight voted in a 5-3 party line vote on Wednesday to move the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) offices from Madison to Wausau.

The WEC has been the focus of partisan attacks in the wake of Republicans’ discredited attacks on the integrity of last year’s presidential election.

Even though the commission was created by Republican Gov. Scott Walker in 2016, Republicans have recently expressed a desire to disband the commission and move control of state elections to the Legislature. Walker’s Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch has endorsed the idea of moving control of elections to the Legislature, including the proposal in a list of policies released by the 1848 Project — a nonprofit she ran to kickstart her campaign for governor.

The WEC was preceded by the nonpartisan Government Accountability Board, which Walker got rid of after it opened investigations into potential campaign finance violations by Republicans in their effort to elect him in 2010.

The WEC consists of six members, three appointed by Republicans and three by Democrats. The commission’s staff of election experts and lawyers works out of offices in Madison.

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Henry Redman

Henry Redman is a staff reporter for the Wisconsin Examiner who focuses on covering Wisconsin's towns and rural areas. He previously covered crime and courts at the Daily Jefferson County Union. A lifelong Midwesterner, he was born in Cleveland, Ohio and graduated from Loyola University Chicago with a degree in journalism in May 2019.