Gov. Tony Evers said he would resist any efforts by the FBI and President Donald Trump to seize voting documents in Wisconsin as part of their review of the 2020 presidential election.
Already this year, FBI officials have seized voting data in Georgia and Arizona, two swing states that Trump lost in 2020. Like Wisconsin, both states have been the regular focus of 2020 election conspiracy theories spread by Trump.
If the FBI seized absentee ballots cast in Milwaukee County, those documents could reveal how individuals voted because of a state law that includes information that could tie each individual ballot to the voter’s signature in the official poll book.
Federal officials have already worked to collect voter registration data in states across the country. The effort to collect that data from Wisconsin has been slowed by the state elections commission and the Wisconsin Department of Justice.
Federal law enforcement has so far not signaled it’s going to expand its 2020 election investigation to include Wisconsin, but local officials have warned Milwaukee could be a target. Evers told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel earlier this week that he’d fight any such effort.
“The idea that the state should somehow turn over sensitive voter information and documents that could enable the federal government to know how Wisconsinites voted and who they voted for is wrong, and we’ll continue fighting to protect Wisconsinites’ right to vote by secret ballot,” Evers said. “We want to keep our elections safe and secure, and caving to the Trump administration’s demand will do the exact opposite. That’s something we’re going to fight all the way.”
