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Election clerks no longer allowed to fix absentee ballot envelopes, says joint rules committee

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The state legislature’s joint rules committee says elections clerks can no longer assist voters if they make a mistake on an absentee ballot envelope.

Republican Chairman Representative Steve Nass says the Wisconsin Elections Commission is telling clerks to violate the law. 

“The statutes are very clear that the clerk’s… if the certificate is flawed, the clerks have two choices. One is to send it back to the voter or set it aside and not count it.”

Democrat representative Gary Hebl of Sun Prairie says that’s just going to cause a lot of trouble for voters and clerks and could lead to more lawsuits. 

“We just spent over a million dollars on some accusation of voter fraud. With no result.”

Clerks have been allowed to correct those ballots since the 2016 presidential election when former president Donald Trump first won in Wisconsin. Trump’s legal teams tried to get the state to toss out ballots that were corrected after he lost in 2020, and it’s become a point of contention in efforts to overturn the election.

Gableman invokes 5th amendment, elections probe found in contempt in open records case

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A Dane County Judge has found the partisan elections probe into the 2020 election in contempt for failure to turn over documents in an open records case. 

Former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman, who leads the Office of Special Counsel, refused to answer questions on Friday after being called as a witness after comments were made that he could personally be found in contempt. 

“When the judge starts telling my office that if I were you I’d get a lawyer because you could go to jail, all of a sudden I suddenly somehow think that my personal rights are at stake too.”

Gableman also objected to the fact that he was subpoenaed in this case, after his own subpoenas of elections officials and city mayors were quashed. Gableman then invoked his 5th amendment rights to silence. 

Judge Frank Remington found Gableman’s office in contempt for intentionally failing to turn over documents to American Oversight. A request by American Oversight to also hold Assembly Speaker Vos’s office in contempt was denied. 

The judge will announce penalties in a written decision. 

Republicans reject Evers special session to repeal Wisconsin abortion ban

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Governor Tony Evers on Wednesday called a special session of the legislature to repeal Wisconsin’s ban on abortions. The leader of state Senate Republicans made it clear that they will not act on the announcement made by Evers during a press conference in Milwaukee.

“Today I’m calling for a special session of the Legislature, on Wednesday June 22 at noon, to take up legislation to repeal Wisconsin’s 1849 abortion ban, to protect the health and safety of Wisconsin women and to ensure abortions remain safe, legal and accessible in this state.”

“Wisconsin law has not changed and our pro-life position has not changed. Killing innocent babies is not healthcare,” said Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu (R-Oostberg), in a statement. “We will gavel out of another blatantly political special session call from this partisan governor.”

The Republican-controlled legislature has refused to act on any of several previous special sessions called by Evers, who’s up for reelection in November.

 

Marquette Poll shows abortion rights will be a major factor in the mid-term elections

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Abortion rights will be a major factor in this year’s mid-term elections.

Poll director Charles Franklin says very few respondents are not engaged with the issue. 

“54% say they would support the candidate who favors keeping abortion legal, 31% would support the candidate who favors strictly limiting abortion, and 14% say abortion really wouldn’t matter to them as an issue in this campaign.”

Democrats and Independents overwhelmingly believe that abortions should be legal in most cases, according to Franklin. 

“There’s a majority of Republicans that would limit abortion rights. 58% would say, illegal in most or all cases among Republicans.”

The US Supreme Court is set to issue a ruling that could overturn Roe versus Wade, and a leaked opinion seems to indicate that conservative justices are prepared to do so.

Dane County judge gives Speaker Vos one last chance to avoid contempt in open records lawsuit

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Assembly Speaker Robin Vos is getting one last opportunity to prevent a contempt ruling in an open records case.

Attorneys from Vos’s office told Dane County Judge Valerie Bailey-Rihn that they were unable to compel special counsel Mike Gableman to comply with an open records request, something she found unlikely. 

“That’s what you’re telling me is that Mr. Vos, who has the control and responsibility for this contractor, can’t get his own contractor even though he has a contract with them to cooperate with him to just satisfy the court.”

Bailey-Rihn says complying with her order shouldn’t be that hard. 

“It’s not like this is Batman, that you have to send out the Bat-Signal to get somebody to respond. This is a contractor that is in Waukesha with an office and Waukesha where you live”

Vos’s office will have to show the judge they’ve attempted to get records by the next hearing in June. 

Nurses group critical of Evers’ veto

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The organization representing Wisconsin nurses is not happy about a veto from Governor Tony Evers. The bill created a separate license for nurse practitioners and other nurses with advanced training. Several physicians groups were opposed.

“I guess what it says is, organized medicine does not want us here in Wisconsin. They do not want us to be able to practice, and take care of patients independently. And I think that’s a very sad state of affairs,” Wisconsin Nurses Association CEO Gina Dennik-Champion said during a Thursday press conference at the Capitol.

Rebecca Gilbertson is a family nurse practitioner and operates a family care clinic in Medford. “I am very disappointed with the governor’s veto, as this does perpetuate physicians groups maintaining power and control over my nursing practice,” Gilbertson said.

Nurses were joined at the Capitol by the legislation’s Senate author, Senator Pat Testin (R-Stevens Point).

“This bill is not going away.” Testin said. “It will come back next session in some form or fashion. And I am hopeful that there will be an administration that will sign this bill into law.”

About 8,000 Wisconsin nurses have advanced degrees.

Wisconsinites have a poor view of Speaker Vos according to MU Poll

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This month’s Marquette Law School Poll shows Wisconsinites have a poor opinion of Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, if they have one at all.

Poll Director Charles Franklin explains. 

“Despite being such an important government figure and having held that position for a long time 49% say they haven’t heard enough about Speaker Vos to have an opinion. Of those with opinions, 12% are favorable, 29% were unfavorable. Not surprisingly, there’s a pretty sharp party split on that question as well.”

In comparison, Governor Tony Evers has a 49 percent job approval rating.

MU Poll shows tightening primary for Dems in US Senate, steady numbers in GOP primary for Governor

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The possible winner of the Democrat primary for a US Senate seat is still up in the air, according to the Marquette Law School Poll.

Poll director Charles Franklin says two candidates remain in the lead. “We have Mandela Barnes at 19%, Alex Lasry at 16%, Sarah, Godlewski at 7%, and Tom Nelson at 5%. And the other seven candidates we asked about all at 1% or less.”

But 48 percent of Democrats still say they don’t have a candidate or didn’t know enough to make a decision just yet. 

That’s a similar case for the Republican primary for Governor. Franklin says Republicans seem to be leaning towards former Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch for now, at least among people who have made a decision.

“Rebecca Kleefisch continues to lead there at 32%, Kevin Nicholson at 10%, and Tim Ramthun at 4%.”

Forty-eight percent of Republicans still don’t know enough about the candidates to make a choice. The poll was conducted before businessman Tim Michels entered the race this weekend.

Not enough people know about the Republican elections investigation to have an opinion on it.  Despite the divisive nature of the probe among political circles, poll director Charles Franklin says not many people know enough about it. 

“57% this month said they hadn’t heard enough. And another 2% said they didn’t know. 13% had approved of the job [Special Counsel] Gableman is doing, 27% disapproved.”

Taxpayers are paying over 600-thousand dollars for the investigation, plus more for legal fees stemming from several open records lawsuits filed against Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Special Counsel Mike Gableman.

Speaker Vos extends elections probe after Trump statement

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The Republican elections probe will not be ending after all.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos had previously said that he was closing down Michael Gableman’s investigation into the 2020 presidential election this week, but has now extended the probe.

In his statement, Vos says he wants to “guarantee the legal power of our legislative subpoenas and get through the other lawsuits that have gridlocked this investigation.”

Former President Donald Trump put out a statement on Monday that didn’t name Vos specifically but did say that “anyone calling themselves a Republican” should support the investigation, and that he might support primary opponents in local races.

Medical marijuana legislation gets public hearing at Capitol

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Sen. Mary Felzkowski

At the Capitol on Wednesday, a first-ever public hearing on a medical marijuana bill for Wisconsin. The measure from Senator Mary Felzkowski (R-Irma) would allow patients to access cannabis for a limited number of conditions in a limited number of forms, and does not include smokable.

“I know that smoking was big issue, and there’s a lot of people that would like smoking,” Felzkowski said. “The largest concern around smoking that our colleagues had, and we heard it from the outside groups, is that if there are children in the household or children near they could also be affected from that.”

Representative Pat Snyder (R-Schofield), the bill’s Assembly author, defended the limited approach. “Because if you you try to do all at once then it would get shot down and we wouldn’t be able to get this through. So let’s work and take up those other kind of concerns later.”

Wisconsin is one of just 11 states that have not legalized some version of medical cannabis. The bill is similar to one which Felzkowski first introduced in 2019. It calls for a program to be overseen by a Medical Marijuana Regulatory Commission within the state Department of Revenue, with members chosen by the governor and legislative leaders.

Doctors, physician assistants and advanced practice nurse prescribers would be able to prescribe liquid or pill form medical cannabis to patients, for a limited number of medical conditions.

Felzkowski said she wished a medical marijuana option had been available while she was undergoing treatment for breast cancer in 2014, and said it’s time for Wisconsin to join the majority of states which allow it. “Thirty-seven other states don’t have it wrong. I think it’s time for Wisconsin to move in that same direction.”

While Wednesday’s hearing did not address the broader issue of legalizing marijuana for recreational use, advocates for that plan to continue bringing up legislation. State Senator Melissa Agard (D-Madison) has made repeated attempts to advance legalization, and she takes issue with the limited scope of the Republican measure.

“The bill . . . is a restrictive medicinal bill that does not provide access to the plant based products. It only provides access to tinctures and oils and pills, not the plant itself.”

Agard has proposed allowing people to grow their own marijuana for use, would have prevented outside businesses from selling cannabis in Wisconsin, and would have allowed for judicial remediation for those with cannabis convictions on their records. Her bills have never gotten a committee hearing.

While Wednesday’s hearing will not result in any action because the legislature has adjourned for the year, both Felzkowski and Schneider pledged to reintroduce it next session.