The U.S. Department of Justice is warning the Wisconsin Elections Commission that it is violating federal law, and the state regulator could pay a hefty price. 

In a letter sent Wednesday to the WEC, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Harmeet Dhillon asserts the agency has failed to follow key provisions of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). The letter notes the controversial commission has no real means of policing itself. 

“Quite surprisingly, we have learned that the Wisconsin Elections Commission has refused to provide any administrative complaint process or hearing regarding HAVA complaints against the Commission. Rather, Wisconsin has decided to rely on a 2022 state [Supreme] court case opining that the Commission cannot police itself,” the letter states. 

HAVA is clear. It requires each state to have an administrative complaint giving voters the ability to file a HAVA violation complaint that they see or experience while voting. States must meet the requirement in order to receive federal funding under HAVA. 

But the Wisconsin Supreme Court decision complicated matters. The ruling by the conservative-led court at the time found the use of widespread absentee ballot drop boxes against the law but it also ended the process of WEC — or outside counsel for WEC — investigating itself. But that change would seem to stand in conflict with HAVA law, according to the Justice Department. 

‘HAVA Complaints Are Important’

According to the DOJ, Wisconsin has received more than $77 million federal funding from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission to date. Dhillon warns that future funding may be coming to an end if the WEC doesn’t get its act together. 

“We are hereby notifying the U.S. Election Assistance Commission of Wisconsin’s failure to follow federal elections laws. Your actions justify a bar against the Wisconsin Elections Commission receiving any future funding from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission,” the letter asserts. 

The federal funding includes more than $7.3 million from the leviathan Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act to help cover the costs of administering elections during the pandemic, according to the EAC site.

Democrat-appointed WEC chairwoman Ann Jacobs told The Associated Press that the funding was allocated years ago and that the state doesn’t receive EAC funds anymore. The partisan seemed to shrug off the DOJ warning. 

“What they’re asking is, if someone files a complaint against us, we’re supposed to hold a hearing to determine if we messed up,” she told the AP. “That is not functional.”

Robert Spindell, a Republican-appointed member of the commission, told The Federalist that, money or not, the WEC needs to follow the law and the DOJ’s directive. 

“As far as I’m concerned, we need to figure out a way of doing it,” he said in a phone interview. “People have these types of complaints and certainly we need to be able to have someone listen to them and resolve them. Those HAVA complaints are important.” Spindell added that the current process does allow individuals with complaints against commission members and staff to bypass the WEC and go straight to a court to hear the case. But he acknowledged that’s a lot more expensive process than filing a direct complaint with the commission. 

‘Stranded With Their Grievances’

Under HAVA, the administrative process must be uniform and nondiscriminatory. It must allow any person who believes that there is a violation of any provision of subchapter III of HAVA to file a complaint. If the complainant requests, there must be an on-the-record hearing. If the state determines there is a violation, there must be an appropriate remedy. 

The commission has left complainants alleging HAVA violations committed by the elections regulator “without any recourse,” Dhillon charges. 

“The consequences were summarized by a federal judge who opined that the Commission’s failure to provide a hearing to those who allege a HAVA complaint against the Commission are left without any decision or interpretation of the law,” the letter states. “With no opportunity or means to appeal, complainants are left stranded with their grievances.”

The Wisconsin Voter Alliance has filed multiple election integrity complaints, including one in 2022 alleging the WEC violated HAVA’s requirements to maintain its statewide voter registration database through the state’s participation in the troubled Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC). The process froze when the commission informed the plaintiffs their complaint was “being returned without consideration or dismissal.” Why? Because the WEC reasoned that a complaint against it would necessitate an “ethical recusal by the body to avoid conflicts associated with deciding a matter brought against itself.” 

The plaintiffs were advised they could take their concerns to a district attorney or a circuit court, but the commission couldn’t help because it might be a conflict. 

It’s that kind of circular logic that is at the core of the concerns from election-integrity advocates and at the heart of the DOJ’s warning letter. 

‘Immediately Come Into Compliance’

Former state Rep. Janel Brandtjen, who led the Assembly’s investigation into Wisconsin election officials’ handling of the rigged 2020 election and the scandal-plagued Wisconsin Elections Commission, said the action from the federal government is long overdue. The commission has faced myriad complaints over everything from its involvement in “Zuckbucks” to dirty voter rolls and concerns about noncitizens in its voter registration files.

“Thank goodness for the Department of Justice and the Trump administration. We need fairness,” Brandtjen told me Thursday on the Vicki McKenna Show. “This isn’t just Republicans or Democrats. This is about making sure everyone is treated equally. That’s when people believe in he outcomes of elections.” 

The Department of Justice last month filed a lawsuit against the State of North Carolina and the North Carolina State Board of Elections for failure to maintain an accurate voter list in violation of HAVA. Spindell said it may come to a federal lawsuit in Wisconsin. 

The GOP-led Joint Finance Committee on Thursday paused a vote on state funding for the Wisconsin Elections Commission in the state’s biennial budget after learning of the DOJ’s concerns. 

“Out of caution, we think we’re just going to wait and see,” the committee’s co-chair, Sen. Howard Marklein, told the AP. “We need to analyze this and see what implications are made, maybe for the entire Elections Commission, and what impact that may have on the budget.”

Brandtjen said there is time to correct the alleged violations. The Department of Justice demands it, or the election regulator could miss out on millions of dollars in federal assistance moving forward. 

“In addition to this formal notification, we fully expect that Wisconsin’s Election Commission will immediately come into compliance with all federal election laws, including HAVA, forthwith,” the letter warns.