U.S. DOJ issues warning to top Wisconsin election agency

MADISON, Wis (CIVIC MEDIA) – Wisconsin’s top election agency is under federal scrutiny from the Trump Administration. Federal funding for voter education and poll worker training could be on the line.

The U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Civil Rights Division issued a sharp warning to the Wisconsin Elections Commission in a letter yesterday, saying the agency is out of compliance with federal law. The DOJ says the commission lacks a proper administrative complaint process – a requirement under the Help America Vote Act, or HAVA.

The Wisconsin Elections Commission is a bipartisan body established roughly a decade ago by former state Governor Scott Walker. It oversees election guidance for nearly 2,000 local clerks. 

The agency does have a complaint system and investigative process in place. Any eligible Wisconsin voter can file a complaint. The DOJ’s letter, however, suggests that it may not meet federal standards.

Since 2002, Wisconsin has received more than 77 million dollars to help administer elections after HAVA – the post-2000 election law that aimed to make voting more secure and accessible.

This latest federal push comes amid continued complaint over a mobile voting van used in Racine during a primary years ago. The city said the van expanded access for voters. But former Racine GOP chair Kenneth Brown disagreed – and sued.

The case went to Wisconsin’s Supreme Court, which tossed it out earlier this year. The court’s liberal majority ruled that Brown wasn’t personally harmed and had no standing.

State Republican lawmakers are taking another swing. A new bill, backed by the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, would make it easier to sue if complaints to the Elections Commission are dismissed. That proposal had a public hearing earlier this week.