RNC sues Milwaukee Elections Commission for limiting poll watchers

The Republican National Committee has filed a lawsuit against the Milwaukee Elections Commission over the city announcing that it will limit the number of poll watchers at certain polling locations on Election Day.

Milwaukee limited poll watchers at three early voting polling locations, according to the lawsuit.

The commission told chief inspectors, “[w]hile most of our polling places are large enough to accommodate a few observers, there are a few that have very small voting rooms. These chief inspectors will limit the number of observers to two at a time, one from each political party,” the lawsuit reads.

"However, there was no legal basis for the chief inspector in any of the Polling Sites to limit the number of observers to two," the RNC argues. "There is ample space at these locations for more observers. It was an arbitrary decision."

Other groups sending poll watchers that are not part of political parties would be excluded, per the commission's announcement.

RNC Chairman Michael Whatley and Co-Chair Lara Trump said in a joint statement on Monday: “Wisconsin voters deserve to know that there are poll watchers from both parties in the room as votes are being cast and counted on Election Day. The RNC has not recruited and trained thousands of volunteers in the Badger State simply to back down from misguided officials who want to prevent a full measure of poll-watching transparency. This lawsuit will compel officials in Milwaukee to ensure robust poll watcher access for the Republican Party.”