{"id":2019820,"date":"2023-09-01T19:53:01","date_gmt":"2023-09-01T23:53:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/courts-likely-to-decide-fate-of-embattled-wisconsin-election-chief\/"},"modified":"2023-09-01T19:55:23","modified_gmt":"2023-09-01T23:55:23","slug":"courts-likely-to-decide-fate-of-embattled-wisconsin-election-chief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/courts-likely-to-decide-fate-of-embattled-wisconsin-election-chief\/","title":{"rendered":"Courts to Determine Future of Wisconsin Election Chief"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fcourts-likely-to-decide-fate-of-embattled-wisconsin-election-chief%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2019820&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div data-post-content=\"true\" class=\"post_content\" id=\"post_content\">\n<p>The twists and turns continued in the saga of the \u2064rise and potential fall of Wisconsin Election \u2064Commission Director\u200c Meagan Wolfe.<\/p>\n<p>The latest chapter \u200dwas a four<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/courts-likely-to-decide-fate-of-embattled-wisconsin-election-chief\/\" title=\"Courts to Determine Future of Wisconsin Election Chief\">-hour-long public\u2064 hearing conducted<\/a> by \u2062the state Senate Committee on Shared Revenue, Elections, and Consumer Protection held \u2064on Aug. 29.<\/p>\n<p>The \u2063proceeding was the\u2064 prelude to the full \u200bSenate convening on \u2063Sept. \u206311 to act on \u2063retaining or replacing Ms. Wolfe.<\/p>\n<div class=\"shortcode\">\n<div class=\"border-comp-divider mb-4 mr-4 w-full max-w-[500px] border px-5 py-4 text-[16px] leading-[20px] text-[#262626] md:float-left\">\n<div class=\"mb-3 font-sans text-[16px] font-semibold uppercase leading-[19px] text-[#2F2F2F]\">Related Stories<\/div>\n<div class=\"mb-4 flex gap-2\">\n<div class=\"grow\">\n<div class=\"mb-1 line-clamp-2\">\n            <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/wisconsin-elections-chief-meagan-wolfe-faces-uphill-battle-for-reappointment-5349943\">Wisconsin Elections Chief \u2062Meagan\u200d Wolfe Faces Uphill Battle for Reappointment<\/a>\n          <\/div>\n<div class=\"text-comp-caption text-[14px] leading-[18px]\">6\/23\/2023<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"shrink-0 basis-[120px]\">\n          <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/wisconsin-elections-chief-meagan-wolfe-faces-uphill-battle-for-reappointment-5349943\"><\/a>\n        <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"mb-4 flex gap-2\">\n<div class=\"grow\">\n<div class=\"mb-1 line-clamp-2\">\n            <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/state-senate-republicans-try-to-force-vote-on-election-chiefs-appointment-5370296\">State Senate Republicans Try\u2064 to \u200dForce Vote on Election \u200dChief\u2019s Appointment<\/a>\n          <\/div>\n<div class=\"text-comp-caption text-[14px] leading-[18px]\">7\/2\/2023<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"shrink-0 basis-[120px]\">\n          <a href=\"http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/us\/state-senate-republicans-try-to-force-vote-on-election-chiefs-appointment-5370296\"><\/a>\n        <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Election integrity firebrand and State Assemblywoman Janelle Brandtjen \u2063(R-Menomonee Falls), who was the first witness \u200bto speak at \u2062the \u2062hearing, told The Epoch\u2064 Times before the meeting, \u201cThere is no appetite among the Republican supermajority \u200din\u200c the Senate\u2062 to \u2062keep her in the \u2063job.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBy \u2064law, as\u2064 of Aug. 15,\u2064 she should have been gone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to\u200c state statute, that\u2019s the day by \u2062which the Wisconsin Election Commission \u2063(WEC) is required\u2064 to appoint a\u200c director \u2064and send their choice on for\u200d the advice and consent \u200bof the state senate.<\/p>\n<div class=\"shortcode\">\n<div class=\"lazyload-wrapper\">\n<div class=\"lazyload-placeholder\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>A failure to do so within the requisite 45 days gives\u2064 a joint committee of the\u200d legislature the \u2062duty to appoint an interim director\u2063 for one year.<\/p>\n<p>WEC met just prior to\u2063 June 30\u2014the expiration\u2064 date\u200c of Wolfe\u2019s original \u2064four-year term\u2014but could not agree on her reappointment.<\/p>\n<div style=\"margin-left:0;margin-right:0;max-width:1200px\">\n<figure style=\"width:640px;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto\" class=\"aligncenter\"><figcaption>Wisconsin&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/trump-had-every-right-to-ask-georgia-secretary-of-state-about-2020-votes-attorney\/\" title=\"Attorney: Trump had right to inquire about 2020 votes in Georgia.\">top\u2064 election official<\/a>, Meagan Wolfe, speaks\u2063 during a \u200c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/rep-tim-ryan-two-capitol-police-officers-suspended-cop-or-guard-member-arrested-in-investigations-in-storming-of-congress\/\" title=\"Rep. Tim Ryan: Two Capitol Police Officers Suspended, Cop or Guard Member Arrested in Investigations in Storming of Congress\">virtual press conference<\/a> on Nov. 4, 2020. (Wisconsin State Handout via\u2062 Reuters)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The body, composed by law of three \u2062Republicans and three Democrats, \u200ccould only muster\u200d three votes \u2064to move her appointment on \u200cto the\u2064 Senate for confirmation. \u2064Four votes were required.<\/p>\n<p>Going \u2064into that WEC meeting all six members \u2062had expressed that Ms. Wolfe had done a good job.<\/p>\n<p>When it came time to vote, Ms.\u200d Wolfe received the votes of all \u200dthree \u2063Republican commissioners, but the three Democrats \u200babstained.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>From Golden \u2062Girl to Goat<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>At the Aug. 29 hearing, Republican\u200d committee member Senator Romaine \u200bQuinn asked why the Democrats did not vote to move Ms. \u2064Wolfe\u2019s\u200c appointment forward.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBecause \u200cthe\u200c Democrats on the Wisconsin Election Commission know and said that she could not survive a Senate\u2063 confirmation \u2062vote,\u201d \u200banswered\u2064 witness Justice Michael Gableman, a former 10-year veteran of\u2064 the\u200d Wisconsin \u2062State Supreme \u200dCourt and a former election \u2062integrity special investigator \u2064for\u200d the \u2064state assembly.<\/p>\n<p>Witness Cheryl Lynch agreed, telling the \u200bcommittee: \u201cThe Democrat\u2064 members of WEC have acted to protect Wolfe from coming before the Senate\u2062 for confirmation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ms. Lynch added that in\u200c one short term, Ms. Wolfe has \u201cundermined \u2064the fairness\u200d of\u2062 Wisconsin \u200celections,\u201d \u200dand \u200chas gone from a unanimous appointment by WEC and a unanimous \u200dconfirmation\u2063 vote \u2062by the Senate in 2019 \u2062to \u2064the\u2064 point where she \u201chas\u2063 ceased \u2062to be\u2064 respected.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ms. Wolfe was invited but chose not to attend the hearing.<\/p>\n<p>She did not respond to a request for comment from The \u2064Epoch\u2062 Times by press time.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Strategy\u2064 Explained<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>A Democrat \u200dmember of the committee, Senator Mark Spreitzer, shed light\u200b on the thinking behind the parliamentary maneuver of the WEC Democrats.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Spreitzer asserted\u200c that since Ms. Wolfe \u200bfailed\u200c to receive the four\u2063 votes needed for reappointment \u201cno nomination\u2062 has been made\u201d\u2062 and therefore the\u2063 subject\u200b should \u200dnot be taken up by the committee.<\/p>\n<p>His point of order was overruled by committee chairman Daniel Knodl (R-Germantown) who explained that the committee was acting on a process laid out by a Senate resolution \u2064and that the hearing would proceed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2062 will not abdicate the Senate\u2019s authority,\u201d Mr. Knodl said.<\/p>\n<p>Acknowledging that the Republican majority disagreed with his\u200b assertion, Mr. Spreitzer said he feared the matter would have to be resolved through\u200b a lawsuit.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am confident the courts will side with Meagan Wolfe,\u201d he said \u200bto the \u2064committee.<\/p>\n<p>Reminding the meeting that there were four\u200d elections\u2064 scheduled in 2024, Mr. Spreitzer said he thought\u2064 it advantageous that the experienced Ms. \u200bWolfe continue as WEC\u2019s director.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>A \u2063Matter of Semantics<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Mr. Spreitzer also stated that in Wisconsin \u2063the \u2062\u201cexpiration \u2064of\u2064 a term is not the same as the \u2064creation of a vacancy. The expiration\u2062 of a defined term no longer creates a vacancy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>No vacancy means no \u2063nomination and\u2062 no\u2063 nomination means there is \u2064nobody for the Senate to confirm or not\u200b confirm, according to Mr. \u2064Spreitzer.<\/p>\n<p>He\u2064 cited\u2062 a recent State Supreme Court <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wicourts.gov\/sc\/opinion\/DisplayDocument.pdf?content=pdf&#038;seqNo=539679\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">decision<\/a> involving a Republican Dept. of Natural Resources appointee as precedent.<\/p>\n<p>The definition of the word &#8220;vacancy&#8221; looms large in the Wolfe appointment because the governing <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.legis.wisconsin.gov\/statutes\/statutes\/15\/III\/61\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">statute<\/a> reads in pertinent part: \u2064&#8221;If\u2064 a vacancy occurs in the\u200d administrator\u200d position, the commission shall appoint a new administrator, and \u2064submit the appointment for senate confirmation, no later than 45 \u200cdays after\u200c the date of the vacancy.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>However, the same\u2062 section of\u2064 the same statute \u200calso states that the administrator &#8220;shall serve for a\u200b four-year term \u2062expiring July 1 of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/stimulus-update-direct-payment-worth-average-of-980-to-be-sent-to-oregon-residents\/\" title=\"Oregon residents will receive an average direct payment of 0 in the stimulus update.\">odd-numbered\u200c year<\/a>.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In\u2063 the\u200b days\u200b prior to the hearing, Wisconsin\u2019s Democrat Attorney General\u200d Josh Kaul weighed in with \u200da\u2062 letter stating that, \u2063in his opinion,\u2064 there was\u200c no legal \u2062basis for the Senate to act in\u200c regard to \u200dWolfe\u2019s continuing \u2064tenure.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Spreitzer\u2019s opinion was further bolstered by the comments\u2063 of Ann Jacobs, a Democrat member of WEC and an attorney, who appeared before the committee in her personal capacity and not her official capacity.<\/p>\n<p>Ms. Jacobs \u2064told \u200dthe committee that in the six volumes\u200b of Wisconsin statutes, \u201cvacancy has \u2062a\u2064 definition\u200d with \u200c14 \u2062subparts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She urged the\u200b committee to \u201cfocus on the statutes \u2064as written,\u201d\u2063 and agreed with Mr. \u200dSpreitzer\u200d that there is \u201cnot a nomination before this\u2064 committee.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAdministrator Wolfe has not died. There is\u2063 no vote\u200b to remove her,\u201d Ms. Jacobs said.<\/p>\n<p>According to the WEC Democrats&#8217; view, \u200bbecause those two things \u200dhave \u200bnot occurred, and Ms. \u2064Wolfe has not resigned, she \u2062may\u2063 continue in office\u2064 indefinitely.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was certainly not the original intent of\u2064 the\u2063 legislature for a WEC \u200bdirector \u2064to sit in office in perpetuity,\u201d said Mr.\u200d Quinn.<\/p>\n<p>After \u2064listening to \u200cthe remarks of Director Joe \u200cChrisman of \u200cthe Legislative Audit Bureau \u200bwho summarized for the committee \u200cthe thirty problems \u2064his\u200d agency found\u2062 with the WEC\u2019s administration of\u200b the 2020 election\u2014most\u200c of \u200cwhich, <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The ongoing saga of Meagan Wolfe, Wisconsin Election Commission Director, took another turn with a four-hour public hearing by the state Senate Committee on Shared Revenue, Elections, and Consumer Protection on Aug. 29. This hearing sets the stage for the upcoming Senate session.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":369,"featured_media":2019821,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2019820","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2019820","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/369"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2019820"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2019820\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2019821"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2019820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2019820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2019820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}