WHI-71796
The first page of the Wisconsin Constitution.
The simple plea was posted on a neighborhood social-media site: “Just wondering if anyone understands the two referendum questions on the April 2nd vote.”
The request underscored how two potential changes to the Wisconsin Constitution that voters will find on their spring election ballot have slipped beneath the public-policy radar.
Both referendum questions were passed by Republicans, who control the Legislature, in the last two legislative sessions because of a controversy during the 2020 presidential election.
So you’re not surprised on April 2, here’s what the changes ask:
*Should all state agencies, and officers or employees of state or local governments, be prohibited from applying for, accepting, expending, or using any funds or equipment to conduct an election or referendum if it is donated or granted by an individual or non-government entity?
*Should any individual other than an election official designated by law be prohibited from performing any task in the conduct of any election or referendum?
Why are you being asked to add these prohibitions to Wisconsin’s Constitution?
In 2020, while the COVID epidemic sickened and killed millions of Americans, Wisconsin held an April general election and the November presidential election. Voters afraid of going to the polls cast absentee ballots and clerks who conduct elections struggled to deal with many pandemic-related issues.
Before the November presidential election, the Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL), a nonprofit based in Chicago, received hundreds of millions of dollars from Facebook founder and billionaire Mark Zuckerberg, for distribution to municipalities around the country. More than 200 Wisconsin communities were offered grants totaling $10 million to help pay the costs of running their elections.
But Republican Sen. Eric Wimberger, sponsor of the constitutional changes, says 90% of the funding went to five cities — including Green Bay, which he represents — that “historically” vote for Democratic presidential candidates.
To get some of the funding, cities like Green Bay had to contract with a “Democratic activist,” Wimberger told the Senate when the constitutional changes were debated last November. Wimberger did not offer any names in his testimony.
In the two weeks before the presidential election, Green Bay’s frustrated clerk and deputy clerk resigned, leaving the CTCL consultant as the “de facto election manager,” managing the staff and having access to ballots.
In Green Bay, “Activists orchestrated the fall election…using a government entity as a targeted ‘get out the vote’ effort,” Wimberger said. Biden won Green Bay, but former President Donald Trump won Brown County.
President Biden won Wisconsin by less than 22,000 votes. “Promoting turnout in targeted regions can change the results across the state. Donations to local governments put the levers of power directly in the hands of the highest bidder,” Wimberger added.
Amending the Constitution is necessary, Wimberger said, because Democratic Gov. Tony Evers vetoed a Republican-sponsored bill that would have required all private funds donated to help pay for local elections to go through the state Elections Commission.
But Democrats said CTCL funds helped pay for items like hand sanitizer, masks and additional staff needed to count record numbers of absentee ballots.
The $8.8 million went to more than 200 local Wisconsin governments — “red and blue, rural, urban and suburban,” said Democratic Sen. Mark Spreitzer, of Beloit.
“Clerks asked for help because they needed it,” Spreitzer added. By not approving more funds to help them run elections in a pandemic, “This Legislature let them down.”
Responding, Wimberger said, “For 175 years or so, we have not been buying off cities, and it’s worked just fine.”
If the new safeguards are not added to the Constitution, Wimberger said, “Do you live in a ‘Zuckerberg city’ or a 'Koch brothers city?’,” referring to conservative Republican billionaire brothers who have spent hundreds of millions of dollars to influence elections.
The ACLU of Wisconsin, Wisconsin’s Democratic Party and the League of Women Voters of Wisconsin (LWVW) are urging voters to reject both constitutional changes.
“Elections are a lot of work,” the LWVW says. “Clerks rely on a whole host of outside experts, volunteers, and community members to make sure our elections are run smoothly and the results are accurate. A handful of politicians want to make the jobs of our election heroes even harder.”
Conservative groups like the MacIver Institute and Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty want the constitutional amendments approved.
“What happened during the 2020 election should never be allowed to happen again,” said MacIver official Annette Olson. “These common sense amendments would ban dark money from playing a role in administering elections.”
Steven Walters started covering the Capitol in 1988. Contact him at stevenscotwalters@gmail.com.
