Wisconsin election commissioners to respond to stinging audit in December

The head of the Wisconsin Elections Commission is promising to answer what she says are “misconceptions and misunderstandings” from the state’s recent audit into the 2020 election.

WEC Administrator Meagan Wolfe on Thursday said she and the commission will address the finding of the Legislative Audit Bureau report at the commission’s December meeting.

“We’re pleased that overall, the LAB report confirmed the November 2020 general election was conducted accurately and fairly,” Wolfe said in a statement. “And while there’s always more to be done to ensure consistent election administration in Wisconsin, and we’re working on that every day, we also know there are some misconceptions and misunderstandings built into the LAB’s findings, and that record needs to be corrected.”

The audit found 30 areas of concern for the WEC, and made 18 suggestions for lawmakers to pursue in the future.

The audit pointed to new voter registrations that didn’t match Wisconsin’s driver license information, old and out-of-date voter roll audits, and thousands of voters who were registered at least twice in the state.

Wolfe said commissioners will decide which issue they want to take-on first.

“We plan to present our analysis to Commissioners at their Dec. 1 meeting in order for them to decide which of the report’s recommendations we should address, which ones should take priority and which ones deserve an official correction,” Wolfe said.

The audit prompted dozens of Republican lawmakers to call for Wolfe to resign.

The LAB audit came as lawmakers continue their investigations into last year’s vote. There are two investigations in the State Assembly, and one in the State Senate.

Racine County’s sheriff this week recommended felony charges against WEC commission members for an order last year to have nursing home staffers, and not special voting deputies, fill-out ballots for elderly residents.