ICYMI: Jim Steineke: You might have seen an ad recently. It was a lie.
Milwaukee, WI – Yesterday, WIsPolitics published an opinion piece from former Majority Leader in the Wisconsin State Assembly Jim Steineke calling out deceptive ads from organizations planting false ideas about Wisconsin Election Integrity. The ads, running on some prominent Wisconsin political sites, call on voters to pressure clerks to “only certify accurate elections.” In Wisconsin, elections have been checked to confirm their accuracy at multiple levels before reaching the clerk for certification, which is a statutory duty of their role – not a decision the clerk can make on a case by case basis.
Leader Steineke’s piece dives into what Wisconsin law says about this process and why Wisconsin voters can have faith that their election results are accurate by the time they reach the clerk for certification.
Check out the full piece HERE and see below for excerpts:
I saw ads from an organization inappropriately named “Follow The Law” recently calling on clerks to “only certify an accurate election” and “NO RUBBER STAMPS!” This language was chosen deliberately – and it is dangerously misleading because it suggests election officials can choose whether they certify results. But that’s not what the law says.
To start, if there are any issues or irregularities, that should have been addressed during the canvass-not the certification. Certification is simply a signoff that everything in the canvass has been completed as required by law.
…Pay attention to the first part of that statement. “The county clerk shall deliver or transmit to the elections commission a certified copy of each statement.” The mandatory language “shall” is reflected in statutory requirements for certification at the local level (polling location), municipal level, county level, and state level (See Wis. Stats. § 7.51(1), (4)(b), (5)(a); Wis. Stat. § 7.51(4)(c); Wis. Stat. § 7.60(3); Wis. Stat. § 7.70(3)).
That language is unequivocal. The results must be certified and failure to do so is a dereliction of duty by election officials.
About RightCount Wisconsin:
RightCount is a 501(c)(3) entity that conducts research and educates fellow citizens around election integrity issues. To learn more about RightCount’s mission in Wisconsin and the steps it is taking to protect the integrity of Wisconsin’s 2024 general election, please visit www.rightcount.org/state/wisconsin.
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