Debunking election misinformation

The Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) corrected misinformation surrounding the election on Tuesday and said that no systemic or widespread election issues occurred. Republican lawmakers are planning an investigation into the election. 

WEC Administrator Meagan Wolfe said that the commission looks into all issues that voters report to the office. Wolfe said that many concerns have stemmed from “unsubstantiated misinformation” and provided facts on processes to “combat rumors” on the following issues. 

Absentee envelope witness addresses

The WEC did not illegally tell clerks to fill in missing witness addresses, which must be written for the vote to count, according to the WEC. Guidance permitting clerks to complete that information has been in effect since 2016, after Republicans brought forward the issue in 2016 and the commission approved it unanimously. Guidance issued to clerks in October emphasized the protocol. Voter and witness signatures are not added by poll workers. 

Madison Deputy Clerk Jim Verbick said in September that the office tries to complete missing witness addresses if the witness’ signature is legible. The office can return incomplete ballots to voters with instructions or instruct them to go to their polling place on Election Day to fix their ballots. 

Voter rolls 

The WEC further followed the law by not removing about 232,000 voters from the registration list because they might have moved. In February, an appeals court unanimously said these voters should stay on the lists, but the Wisconsin Supreme Court has not ruled on the issue yet. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, commission members from both parties did not take voters off the rolls because some of the data is incorrect and some voters might not have moved. 

Ballot safety 

The WEC said “one of the stranger claims” was that “legitimate ballots had been specially encoded by one of the political parties so any illegitimate ballots could be rejected.” Wolfe said county clerks are responsible for printing ballots, and do not put watermarks or codes on them that would identify a political party. The state does not collect information on the gender, race or party affiliation of registered voters. 

Pens and markers

Wolfe said some voters were concerned about social media posts about the use of felt-tip pens on ballots. Wolfe said that while the commission recommends using pens provided at polling places or following instructions in absentee ballots, using felt-tip pens does not invalidate a ballot. Wolfe said voting equipment is tested at the local, state and federal levels and is randomly selected to get audited after the presidential election. 

What happens next

Wolfe reassured voters that unofficial results will be “triple checked” by municipal and county clerks and elections commission staff as part of the certification process.

Counties are currently canvassing results and they must finish by Nov. 17. According to the AP, more than two-thirds of Wisconsin counties have completed certifying their results. Some of the largest counties — including Milwaukee, Dane, Waukesha and Brown — are still working on canvassing, and Brown County does not anticipate finishing before the deadline. 

Last week, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, directed a committee to review how the election was administered. Republicans called into question some election procedures, including witness addresses and “Democracy in the Park” events in Madison. 

Lawmakers plan to issue subpoenas as part of the investigation, a power they have not used in at least fifty years. Rep. Ron Tusler, R-Harrison, said he would call Wolfe to testify and subpoena municipal clerks or others, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 

“I think it is unlikely we would find enough cases of fraud to overturn the election. I think it’s unlikely, but I don’t know that. That’s why you have an investigation,” Vos said. 

A WPR analysis found that Wisconsin municipal clerks flagged 238 possible cases of voter fraud in the past four and a half years. A WEC 2020 report to the state legislature — which included the 2020 presidential primary, 2020 partisan primary, 2019 spring election and 2018 general election —  identified only 19 possible cases of fraud out of about 6.46 million ballots.

A New York Times analysis, which contacted election officials in every state, found that no widespread voter fraud or voting issues occurred on a national level, which discredited Trump’s claims on Twitter. Some of the president’s tweets have been flagged by the social media platform, including warnings such as “this claim about election fraud is disputed.”

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