The Republican-controlled Wisconsin Senate voted to fire the head of the state’s elections agency on Thursday, citing the need to restore citizens’ trust in the electoral process following Wisconsin’s messy 2020 election.
“Wisconsinites have expressed concerns with the administration of elections both here in Wisconsin and nationally,” Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, a Republican, said. “We need to rebuild faith in Wisconsin’s elections.”
The dispute over the confirmation of Meagan Wolfe, the administrator of the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC), began earlier this summer when the WEC “deadlocked and did not pass a motion to reappoint Wolfe to another four-year term.” While the commission’s three Republican members voted to re-nominate Wolfe, the body’s three Democrats abstained.
In Wisconsin, the WEC is responsible for overseeing the administration of elections and possesses responsibilities such as “helping ensure compliance with federal and state election laws.” As WEC administrator, Wolfe “serves as the agency’s chief executive … and carries out the Commission’s directives.”
Democrats’ abstention from the commission’s vote on re-nominating Wolfe appears to be a strategy based upon their interpretation of state law, which stipulates that the WEC administrator “shall be appointed by a majority of the members of the commission.” The WEC’s Democrat members seem to believe Wolfe’s re-nomination requires four “yea” votes before it can be considered by the Senate. Their choice to abstain from June’s vote was designed to allow her to serve as WEC administrator indefinitely.
LeMathieu, however, interpreted the WEC’s June vote as a unanimous 3-0 decision in favor
