The Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) voted unanimously on Wednesday to include in its next biennial budget request the creation of a new inspector general office within the agency to respond to increasing demand for information from Wisconsin voters.
The office, which would include an inspector general and nine other new staff members, would be responsible for helping the WEC respond to formal election complaints, open records requests and inquiries from state legislators — all of which have increased greatly since the 2020 election.
“To put it plainly, the election landscape since the commission was established in 2016 is nearly unrecognizable,” said WEC Administrator Meagan Wolfe. “The profile, prominence and importance of Wisconsin’s election administration has changed drastically, and public engagement and scrutiny of election administration is higher than at any other point in the Commission’s seven-year history.”
Wolfe added that the mission of the inspector general office would not be to keep looking backwards, but to meet the needs of Wisconsin voters and make sure that accurate information about the state’s election administration is being dispersed.
“The WEC must adapt to meet the growing needs of our citizenry,” Wolfe said. “Funding the elections inspector general program would be one clear and decisive step towards creating a more effective, efficient agency that will better address citizen concerns and requests and thus increase public confidence in our...
Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis has condemned as fake a photo circulating online that allegedly depicts him in a “private moment,” warning that anyone claiming the image is authentic will face l...