(The Center Square) – Republicans at the Wisconsin Capitol are pushing to end the state’s Elections Commission.
The latest plan comes from Senate elections boss Dan Knodl and 10 Assembly Republicans. They want to get rid of the commission and shift the power to oversee elections to the secretary of state.
Rep. Ty Bodden, R-Stockbridge, said the commission has proven it cannot handle election administration.
“The Wisconsin Elections Commission and its makeup has been a disaster for the state of Wisconsin. The Government Accountability Board was a failed agency and WEC was another failed experiment that replaced it. Let’s not try to reinvent the wheel, but rather give the responsibilities back to the secretary of state, the position that administers elections in 38 other states,” Bodden said.
Republicans talked about a similar plan before last year’s elections, but dropped the proposal after Democrats won the secretary of state’s seat.
Bodden said by moving the job of election administration to the secretary of state, voters would have more of a say in how elections are run.
“Our county clerks around the state, Republicans and Democrats, know how to administer elections. Right now, our brilliant county clerks are not able to be WEC administrators under current law due to a provision that prohibits individuals who have held partisan office. This gives our clerks a chance to run for the position, where qualifications are made public, and the voters can decide who is most qualified to run our elections,” Bodden said.
Other Republicans say they need to see the final details before committing to the idea. Gov. Tony Evers’ office made it clear he is not in favor of any attempt to get rid of the commission.
“Republicans have spent years attempting to overturn and undermine our elections, defending gerrymandered maps, working to make it harder for eligible Wisconsinites to cast their ballot, and threatening to impeach and illegally fire Wisconsin’s election administrator,” Evers spokesperson Britt Cudaback said in a statement.
Bodden said switching to an elected elections boss would actually help restore faith in Wisconsin’s electoral process and electoral operations.
“This is common sense. We need to put the voters in charge and let the Legislature do its job to be a check on our secretary of state, just like we do with our governor,” Bodden said.
