Republicans file articles of impeachment against Meagan Wolfe

MADISON, Wis. (Civic Media) – Republican lawmakers have filed articles of impeachment against the state’s top election official, Meagan Wolfe. That comes just a week after the state Senate voted to fire Wolfe, a vote that legal experts say was unlawful.

The impeachment filings accuse Wolfe of maladministration in office and potentially violating election laws. The impeachment papers were brought forward by five Representatives: Janel Brantjen (R-Menomonee Falls), Scott Allen (R-Waukesha), Elijah Behnke (R-Oconto), Ty Bodden (R-Hilbert), and Chuck Wichgers (R-Muskego). 

The impeachment papers largely focus on Wolfe’s handling of the 2020 presidential election, such as absentee ballots, the use of absentee ballot drop boxes, and clerks filling in some missing address information on absentee ballots, or ballot curing. While absentee ballot drop boxes and ballot curing have since been ruled illegal by courts, they were legal during the 2020 presidential election.

Those decisions were largely decided by the bipartisan state elections commission, and not Wolfe.

Multiple recounts and court decisions have affirmed that there was no significant fraud during the 2020 presidential election, and that Joe Biden won the state of Wisconsin.

Wolfe said in a statement that “The claims in this resolution have been thoroughly examined through numerous audits, investigations, and lawsuits, and they have shown that Wisconsin’s elections are run with integrity. It’s irresponsible for this group of politicians to willfully distort the truth when they’ve been provided the facts for years.”

Democrats blasted their Republican colleagues for the move. Senate Minority Leader Melissa Agard (D-Madison) called the impeachment “shameless.” “A gaggle of well-known election deniers is once again attacking Meagan Wolfe, a nonpartisan election administrator who has served Wisconsin and our democracy with the utmost respect and dignity,” Agard said.

The resolution to impeach Meagan Wolfe is currently circulating for co-sponsorship.