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Assembly Republicans voted Tuesday to direct a Wisconsin committee to investigate how elections have been administered over the last two years, paving the way for lawmakers to ramp up the scrutiny of the state's 2020 presidential contests.
While the Campaigns and Elections Committee had already been holding hearings surrounding the conduct of the November 2020 election, the resolution's approval this week lays the groundwork for allowing the panel to subpoena witnesses or documents going forward.
Republican Rep. Joe Sanfelippo, who authored the resolution and serves as the vice-chair of the panel, said the move gives lawmakers "the necessary tools we need to go forward," but added he's hopeful the subpoena powers won't need to be leveraged.
"I can't understand why any elected official in this state would not want to talk openly and publicly about the administration of elections in their areas, but in the event that something does occur where we would need to subpoena records or people, then we will have this ability at our disposal," the New Berlin Republican told reporters.
At the two informational hearings the committee has held since the November election, only invited speakers were allowed to testify. Ahead of the most recent hearing, which centered on Green Bay's administration of its election, committee members did not invite the city's mayor or officials from the Wisconsin Elections Commission to speak, according to media reports.
The resolution directs the committee to focus "in particular" on elections that occurred after Jan. 1, 2019. It passed on a party-line vote.
Democrats slammed the language, which in part stated election officials "through willful disregard or reckless neglect have failed to adhere to our election laws" by "ignoring, violating and encouraging noncompliance" of laws and regulations surrounding election administration.
Rep. Lee Snodgrass, D-Appleton, said the effort seeks to perpetuate unfounded claims of election fraud tied to President Joe Biden's narrow win in Wisconsin last fall.
"Today's resolution opens door for more of the same sham hearings that are continuing to waste taxpayer dollars, chasing nonexistent allegations of fraud from those who simply do not like the election results," she said, referencing the two informational hearings the committee has held thus far. "It sets the stage for continued attacks and hunts without evidence of election problems in Wisconsin."
The move comes as the committee has scrutinized the operation of Green Bay's fall election, after a recent story published by a website run by conservative group Empower Wisconsin alleged it was led by a grant-funded consultant rather than the city itself. Green Bay officials have dismissed the charges as "egregious and false."
Green Bay was one of a series of Wisconsin cities that was awarded grant dollars from the Center for Tech and Civic Life, which is funded by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan. Those grant funds have previously been the focus of a state and federal lawsuit from a conservative group that were both unsuccessful.
In recent weeks, legislative Republicans have spearheaded a series of bills aiming to overhaul the state's voting practices, including limiting ballot drop boxes to one per municipality, impose additional photo ID requirements for by-mail voters and more — practices that were targeted in lawsuits brought by former President Donald Trump and his allies aiming to overturn the 2020 results.
Lawmakers have also ordered the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau to conduct a review of the way elections are administered, the results of which could spur additional legislative proposals in the months ahead.
