Newsletter 20#
Holding Republicans Accountable
Meagan Wolfe Must Go – and Even Kathy Bernier Can’t Save Her
We all remember when State Representative Janel Brandtjen called for a full forensic audit of the 2020 election. We all remember Robin Vos wiggling around the issue, with his usual double talk, backroom dealings and outright lies. We all remember when then State Senator Kathy Bernier and the rest of the “election fraud deniers” were screaming about how the Legislative Audit bureau, (no I take that back, the NON-PARTISAN) Legislative Audit bureau (LAB) was already doing an audit. And that an audit from the (LAB) simply cannot be questioned! Furthermore, remember when the CONSERVATIVE Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL) did their own review and Bernier, Vos, and the rest of the blinded leaders, flaunted the report as flawless because the authors stopped short of confirming that the election was stolen.* You remember, don’t you?
How about you Bernier? Vos? Remember? We certainly do! Below are links to the studies. You can barely turn a page on either report without finding out that according to both research teams, Meagan Wolfe and WEC failed to adhere to settled policy or outright violated state laws.
*The actual outcome of the studies was that there was fraud, there was questionable activity, laws were broken, and policies were not followed.
https://legis.wisconsin.gov/lab/media/3288/21-19full.pdf
https://will-law.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/2021ReviewStudy.pdf
LAB – From the report -
1. WEC’s administrative rules for training municipal clerks have not been updated since June 2016 and contain outdated provisions.
2. WEC’s staff did not comply with administrative rules because they did not contact governing bodies if clerks did not report having completed the required training for the two-year period that ended in December 2019.
3. WEC did not comply with statutes by promulgating administrative rules prescribing the contents of training for special voting deputies or election inspectors.
4. WEC did not have a written data-sharing agreement with DOT at the time of our audit.
5. WEC did not comply with statutes by obtaining from DOT the signatures of individuals who register online to vote.
6. WEC did not have a written data-sharing agreement with DHS at the time of our audit.
7. WEC’s data-sharing agreement with DOC contained outdated information.
8. WEC did not regularly obtain all types of data from ERIC in recent years.
9. Our review found that some certificates had incomplete witness addresses or did not have some statutorily required information.
10. Written guidance that WEC provided to municipal clerks in June 2020 did not comply with statutes.
11. Written guidance that WEC’s staff provided to municipal clerks in October 2020 did not comply with statutes.
12. Written guidance that WEC provided to municipal clerks in March 2020 did not comply with statutes.
13. WEC did not comply with statutes by promulgating administrative rules to address security-related issues for electronic voting equipment.
14. WEC’s staff did not report to WEC the statutorily required error rates for any types of electronic voting equipment used in the November 2020 General Election.
15. WEC’s staff did not have written policies for considering complaints.
16. Through May 2021, WEC’s staff did not track whether or how they had responded to concerns [complaints].
WILL (From the summary) -
“Widespread abandonment of proper procedures * Note that the statutory definition of “election fraud” is far broader than this conception. A Review of the 2020 Election 10 raises questions regarding the fairness of the process and the possibility for voter fraud that might not otherwise be detected. It seems clear that voters abandoned the rules for voting indefinitely confined, drop boxes were used, at least one ballot harvesting event was conducted without statutory authorization, absentee balloting in nursing homes was conducted contrary to law, ballots were cured without authorization, and voter rolls were not accurately maintained as required by state and federal law.”
“Additionally, it is possible that even lawful processes might not ensure evenhandedness or provide adequate protection against fraud. We found that certain processes, even if legal, create weaknesses that could be exploited for fraudulent purposes. We found areas in which processes are not secure, and that reasonable reforms might make such exploitation less likely without unduly burdening the right to vote. Although there may be little evidence that these vulnerabilities were exploited in 2020, reform is no less imperative. If you determined that your bank account was vulnerable to fraud, you would not decline to address that vulnerability because no money had been stolen yet. The security of the election was undermined by lax laws regarding indefinitely confined voter status, inconsistent drop box use, and failure to contact voters who failed DMV tests. Finally, we found that private funding of election operations had a partisan bias and impact.”
We all can agree that the election process is paramount to protecting the rights and liberties of the American citizen. We also agree that we must have faith that our elections are fair, honest, and conducted in the open. Meagan Wolfe has failed in each one of these categories. The people of Wisconsin do not believe we have a fair process, and their concerns are legitimate no matter how many times Meagan Wolfe, Kathy Bernier, and Robin Vos scream that there’s nothing to see here.
While the democrats fight tooth and nail to make voting as chaotic as “text in your vote” from your couch, republicans are again caught with their pants down.
You think Meagan Wolfe did a good job? READ THE REPORTS!!!
From my Madison -Monday Morning - Wis. Conservative Digest post -
Meagan Wolfe
Last week Sen. Knodl’s Committee on Shared Revenue, Elections and Consumer Protection announced that Meagan Wolfe would be on the agenda on August 29th. I questioned this move with our Wisconsin Conservative Union Facebook Group. Below is what I wrote. Senator Knodl has not responded to my request for an explanation, however I sent it Friday afternoon, so they haven’t had a lot of time to respond. There will be further updates on this.
See the notice - https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/raw/cid/1741999
From Facebook:
It has been reported that State Senator Dan Knodl has called a hearing on August 29th to discuss Meagan Wolfe as Administrator of the Wisconsin Elections Commission, to serve for the term ending July 1, 2027.
I'll be asking his office to explain why. The statute is very clear. Since the WEC has failed to put forth a nominee within 45 days by a majority vote, the joint committee on legislative organization SHALL appoint an interim administrator to serve until a new administrator has been confirmed by the senate but for a term of no longer than one year.
Why is this extra step of a hearing in Knodl's committee being taken? Why isn’t the committee on legislative organization meeting, like yesterday, and appointing a new administrator?
Is this just more weak-kneed nonsense from the republican caucus? It sure looks like it!
15.61.(1)(b)
1. The elections commission shall be under the direction and supervision of an administrator, who shall be appointed by a majority of the members of the commission, with the advice and consent of the senate, to serve for a 4-year term expiring on July 1 of the odd-numbered year. Until the senate has confirmed an appointment made under this subdivision, the elections commission shall be under the direction and supervision of an interim administrator selected by a majority of the members of the commission. If a vacancy occurs in the administrator position, the commission shall appoint a new administrator, and submit the appointment for senate confirmation, no later than 45 days after the date of the vacancy. If the commission has not appointed a new administrator at the end of the 45-day period, the joint committee on legislative organization shall appoint an interim administrator to serve until a new administrator has been confirmed by the senate but for a term of no longer than one year. If the administrator position remains vacant at the end of the one-year period, the process for filling the vacancy described in this subdivision is repeated until the vacancy is filled.
Again, I’ll be sure to share Senator Knodl’s response when I receive it.
Note: For more information on Meagan Wolfe and her questionable emails – see https://savagespeaks.substack.com/p/newsletter-10
For more information on Kathy Bernier see - https://savagespeaks.substack.com/p/newsletter-11
See you next week!
Bill Savage