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Waukesha County judge rules against ballot drop boxes

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City of Madison drop box WRN image

A Waukesha County Judge has ordered a halt to the use of ballot drop boxes in Wisconsin elections. Judge Michael Bohren said Thursday he would finalize an injunction in 10 days ordering the state Elections Commission to withdraw its guidance to municipal clerks regarding drop boxes that are not located in their offices.

Bohren ruled in favor of a lawsuit by the Wisconsin Institute For Law and Liberty. Luke Berg with the conservative law firm argued that the Commission’s guidance carried a lot of weight with local clerks.

“It is charged with administering the election laws and it is charged with providing guidance to clerks. So when it says something is lawful, municipal clerks follow it’s lead.”

Representing the elections commission, Steven Kilpatrick countered that clerks had made a great effort to ensure the drop boxes were secure.

“The commission’s guidance states that clerks should ensure that drop boxes are secure, can be monitored, and can be regularly emptied.”

The lawsuit by WILL is part of part of an Republican effort to oppose drop boxes. Bohren’s ruling is likely to be appealed.

State sets new COVID-19 hospitalization record

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Wisconsin sets a new record on Wednesday, for COVID-19 hospitalizations. The state Department of Health Services reports Critically High infection rates in all 72 Wisconsin counties.

But as the state’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Ryan Westergaard recently noted, hospitalizations are the really critical number.

“I think that we should be looking at that number, we should be talking about that number, because it’s really high, it’s too high. That fact that it’s so high is creating an unsafe situation for people who need medical care.”

On Wednesday, the Wisconsin Hospital Association reported a pandemic high of 2,278, mainly unvaccinated COVID-19 patients, including 488 in ICU beds.

State Senator Nass demands review of ballot dropbox rules from Elections Commission

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The head of the Republican-led legislative rules committee is demanding that the state elections board issue rules on drop boxes and absentee ballots. 

The joint committee for review of administrative rules voted on party lines on Monday to order the Wisconsin Elections Commission to issue rules for review within 30 days on absentee ballot dropboxes and ballot fixing.

Senator Steve Nass says the committee has the authority to prevent the elections commission from issuing directives on these matters. Previous Republican attempts to pass laws that would limit dropbox usage and change how absentee ballots are handled were vetoed by Governor Evers.

DHS letter urges K-12 administrators to adopt tougher COVID mitigation strategies

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Wisconsin school districts are being asked to step up their efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19. A letter to school administrators from the Department of Health Services urges them to require masks for everyone, follow the CDC’s new quarantine guidelines, and offer school vaccination and booster clinics.

The request comes as Wisconsin is experiencing an unprecedented surge in COVID-19 cases.

DHS on Monday reported the 7-day average of new confirmed cases at 9,063 – a one hundred and fifty percent increase over two weeks.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jill Underly supports the recommendations from DHS. “We cannot keep our children engaged in learning if we cannot keep our children and our school staff healthy,” Underly said.

 

U.S. Senator Ron Johnson will seek third term

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Stating that he “believes America is in peril,” Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson is officially running for re-election to the U.S. Senate. The Oshkosh Republican announced his campaign with a Sunday op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, citing “Democrats’ complete takeover of government” as one reason for running again.

The news has been expected despite Johnson’s earlier pledge to serve only two terms. He’s been criticized for promoting misinformation about the coronavirus pandemic and COVID-19 vaccines, and for downplaying the severity of last year’s violent assault on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of Donald Trump.

Several Democrats are competing to challenge Johnson, including Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes, Milwaukee Bucks executive Alex Lasry, and Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson.

 

Bernier won’t seek another state Senate term

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State Senator Kathy Bernier (R-Chippewa Falls) announced on Friday that she won’t be running for another term. Bernier served 12 years in the State Senate and 13 years before that as a county clerk in Chippewa County. She says she will be stepping back from politics to focus on her family and grandchildren.

Bernier, who chairs the Senate Elections commas most recently been an outspoken critic of the ongoing partisan probe into the 2020 presidential election overseen by former state Supreme Court Justice Mike Gableman. That’s a stance that has put her at odds with other members of her caucus. Bernier said that didn’t factor into her decision not to run.

“The choice to retire was a difficult one to make, but I have been contemplating this decision for some time now and I decided ‘now is the time,” Bernier said in a statement. “I want to make it perfectly clear that no one has forced me out and politics has not played a role in my decision.”

“Senator Bernier has been a tremendous asset to our caucus, and I thank Kathy for her 25 years of public service. Her expertise, knowledge, and good humor will be missed in the Senate,” said Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu.

Interim UW System President Tommy Thompson gives March departure date

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Interim UW System President Tommy Thompson will resign his post in March. In a letter to Board of Regents President Edmund Manydeeds, Thompson said he took the interim position with the understanding he was needed, and that it would be temporary.

Manydeeds said Thompson has worked to shepherd the UW System through the coronavirus pandemic while being “a relentless champion of the University of Wisconsin.”

“President Thompson stepped in during a critical moment for UW System and our state, and he has provided strong and decisive leadership” said UW Madison Chancellor Rebecca Blank. “He has been an extraordinary advocate for our students, faculty and staff over these past 18 months, as he has been for the state of Wisconsin over his many decades of public service.”

Wisconsin’s longest serving governor was brought aboard in July 2020, after a failed search to find a replacement for the retiring Ray Cross. In his letter, Thompson noted the regents will soon identify a candidate to become the full-time president.

Duffy praises Ron Johnson as Senator continues to push unsubstantiated claims about COVID vaccines

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Former Wisconsin congressman Sean Duffy says he’s not running for office, but he hopes fellow Republican, U.S. Senator Ron Johnson, does seek a third term. Duffy praised Johnson during a Thursday interview on conservative talk station WISN in Milwaukee.

“You need people who know where the bodies are buried,” Duffy told host Jay Weber. “They know how to use gavel, they know how to fight for people. And Ron Johnson has been a warrior for truth in regard to all the COVID falsehoods. Just bringing stories out. Letting people who have had mishaps and injury from the vaccine. Talking about early treatment.”

Johnson has consistently referenced the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, or VAERS, when talking about adverse reactions to the COVID-19 vaccines.  Anyone can use VAERS, which which is jointly run by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration, to submit a report of a symptom that occurred following vaccination.

Duffy’s comments Thursday came hours after Johnson once again questioned vaccine policy, during comments to FOX Business.

“I think vaccinations are absolutely appropriate for the vulnerable. I have questions about mass vaccinations into the pandemic, as other medical experts have warned of,” Johnson said. “Where are these variants coming from? These are variants that are avoiding the vaccine. Could the vast vaccination into the vaccine, could that be driving these variants? I don’t know.”

Johnson has yet to announce if he’s running again, after once saying he’d limit himself to two terms. Several Democrats are running to oppose him, including Lieutenant Governor Mandela, Barnes, state Treasurer Sarah Godlewski, and Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson.

Duffy also said Thursday that he had no plans to run for governor, but will focus on his family. “We have to raise strong, good, conservative Christian kids, if we’re going to save them from the pressures of this conservative culture,” he said.

The former 7th District Republican is now a lobbyist living in New Jersey. Duffy’s wife Rachel works for FOX News, and he has appeared frequently on the conservative cable channel.

 

Hospitalizations are critical number to watch amid ongoing Omicron surge

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As the more easily transmissible Omicron variant of COVID-19 continues to put a strain on health care resources, Wisconsin’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Ryan Westergaard says the number of hospitalized COVID patients is actually more critical than the record setting number of new cases.

“The most important thing to think about right now is what are we seeing in our hospitals and how can we support our hospitals and protect our hospital resources, to be able to give everyone the highest level of care,”Westergaard said Thursday. “But the number of cases tell us an important story, which is that Omicron is spreading faster than anything that we’ve seen before.”

The Department of Health Services on Thursday reported a third straight record of new COVID cases, at 11,547. The Wisconsin Hospital Association reports some two-thousand people hospitalized for COVID-19, including more than 460 in ICU beds.

Senator Baldwin calls for end to attacks on elections, pushes for new voting rights bill

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Senator Tammy Baldwin says enough is enough, and that attacks on elections by Republicans need to stop.

She says that an audit from Wisconsin Republicans is just part of a nationwide effort to make it harder to vote in America. “Gableman’s audit, which was is being paid for by the taxpayers of Wisconsin is nothing more than an effort to draw into question the election, to perpetuate Trump’s big lie, and to harass and intimidate our state election officials.”

Baldwin says that in Wisconsin, the presidential election has already survived recounts and audits. 

“Every stage of this was with high transparency and accountability and all reiterated that Biden had one in Wisconsin by a little over 20,000 votes.”

Baldwin and her Democrat colleagues are hoping to pass voting rights and election protection bills, but those efforts are being blocked by Republicans in the Senate.