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National Review
National Review
4 Nov 2024
David Zimmermann


NextImg:RNC Sues Milwaukee Election Board for Placing ‘Arbitrary Limit’ on Poll Watchers

The Republican National Committee sued the Milwaukee Elections Commission on Monday for limiting the number of poll watchers in some of the city’s voting precincts to one from each of the two major political parties.

Days before the general election, Milwaukee’s election board announced that only one Republican and one Democrat can observe the voting process at certain polling locations. Under Wisconsin law, that right applies to any member of the public. The RNC argues the change is an “arbitrary limit” on the voting process.

The “Milwaukee Elections Commission has been arbitrarily limiting and prohibiting members of the public from observing all aspects of the voting process at polling locations in the City of Milwaukee,” the lawsuit states. It remains unclear which poll sites are affected.

Michael Hoffman, election integrity director for Wisconsin, emailed the Milwaukee Elections Commission’s executive director on Friday, asking which polling locations in the city have one Republican and one Democratic election observer in place. The locations were not disclosed.

“I am not able to provide a specific list of locations where we might need to limit observers to one person per party,” the executive director responded. “However, it may occur anywhere the space, access, number of voters, and other prevailing circumstances would require it as a reasonable limitation.”

As a result, the GOP pursued legal action over concerns that an official RNC poll watcher would be potentially barred from observing the voting process. The RNC also said that the minor parties and nonprofits, such as the American Civil Liberties Union and the League of Women Voters, that expressed interest in having poll watchers of their own would not be allowed to do so.

“This action is being brought so that not only will observers affiliated with the Plaintiff be able to observe the election process in the City of Milwaukee,” the lawsuit reads, “but that all persons interested in doing so will not be denied their express right to do so under Wisconsin law.”

The complaint seeks a temporary restraining order and injunction against the Milwaukee Elections Commission for the lack of transparency. The plaintiff also filed a court summons, requiring the defendant to respond to the legal claim within 45 days of the filing.

“Wisconsin voters deserve to know that there are poll watchers from both parties in the room as votes are being cast and counted on Election Day,” RNC chairman Michael Whatley and co-chair Lara Trump said in a statement.

“The RNC has not recruited and trained thousands of volunteers in the Badger State simply to back down from misguided officials who want to prevent a full measure of poll-watching transparency. This lawsuit will compel officials in Milwaukee to ensure robust poll watcher access for the Republican Party.”

The Republican Party has made election integrity a priority this election cycle after former president Donald Trump raised concerns of voter fraud during the 2020 presidential election, which he claimed was stolen from him. Republican-led states are also leading the charge to ensure their elections are fair and secure.

Missouri filed a lawsuit against the Department of Justice on Monday for planning to monitor polling locations in St. Louis. The state argued the federal department was attempting to interfere in its elections. Missouri made the same argument during the November 2022 midterms, forcing the Justice Department to reverse course on its election-monitoring plans.

Notably, the Justice Department has sent attorneys and staffers to monitor poll sites across the U.S. for decades, the Associated Press reported. The election monitors were not law-enforcement officers or federal agents.

Just last week, Virginia officials won an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court regarding their ability to purge suspected noncitizens from the state’s voter rolls. The whole ordeal started last month when the Justice Department sued Virginia for removing ineligible voters within 90 days of the election.

The RNC and the Republican Party of Virginia filed an amicus brief to the Supreme Court in support of the commonwealth’s efforts to combat election interference.