Republican National Committee Sues Milwaukee Over Poll Watchers

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Wisconsin is one of the key battleground states in the ongoing presidential election, and so the state’s polling places and ballot counts are – and should be – closely scrutinized to ensure transparency and election integrity. In Milwaukee, a problem has already arisen. On Monday, one day before the general election, the Republican National Committee announced in a mass email distribution that they are suing the Milwaukee Elections Commission over a plan to limit the numbers of poll watchers in certain districts.

The complaint states in part:

3. As a vital means to ensure that our elections are administered in accordance with the law, the Legislature has expressly afforded members of the public with the unfettered right to, among other things, be present at “any polling place . . . for the purpose of observation of an election and the absentee ballot voting process” and, as a result, “observation areas shall be so positioned” by the chief inspector or municipal clerk “to permit any election observer to readily observe all aspects of the voting process.” Wis. Stat. § 7.41(1) – (2).

4. Contrary to Wis. Stat. § 7.41, Defendant Milwaukee Elections Commission has been arbitrarily limiting and prohibiting members of the public from observing all aspects of the
voting process at polling locations in the City of Milwaukee.

5. This is an action against Milwaukee Elections Commission (the “Commission”), seeking a temporary restraining order and injunction which requires the Commission to allow the public to observe all public aspects of the voting process in accordance with Wis. Stat. § 7.41, and an order of declaratory judgment regarding the proper construction of the Wisconsin Statutes requiring that the public be afforded the ability to observe all public aspects of the voting process at all polling locations in the City of Milwaukee.

Over the weekend, the Milwaukee Elections Commission had announced that “certain precincts” would be limited to one Democrat and one Republican poll watcher. The specific precincts were not described, which would appear to violate the requirement that “any election observer” must be able to “readily observe all aspects of the voting process.” Since the specific precincts were not named, it’s unclear how the Milwaukee Elections Commission plans to ensure that there is an official RNC (or, for that matter, DNC) poll watcher onsite to observe the counting of ballots.

The RNC’s chairman Michael Whatley and Co-Chair Lara Trump stated in the email:

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.

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The complaint may be read in its entirety here.

We will, of course, continue to monitor this case and update you as things develop.