MADISON - Members of the state's bipartisan elections commission on Tuesday failed to agree to vote on reappointing the agency's administrator, whom they each characterized as being unfairly targeted by "grifters" peddling baseless theories about the 2020 presidential election criticism that has helped fuel a push for an ouster from some Republican lawmakers.
The commission's three Republican commissioners voted in favor of reappointing Wisconsin Elections Commission administrator Meagan Wolfe while the commission's three Democratic members voted to abstain from the action altogether, arguing a recent state Supreme Court ruling prevented the commission from acting at all.
All six members agreed Wolfe was highly qualified and successfully led the agency through some of the most contentious years for election officials. They also agreed her tenuous status as administrator was a result of her being the face of the agency during a time when former President Donald Trump's false claims about the 2020 election had created a community of conspiracy theorists who made Wolfe a target.
But the motion to reappoint Wolfe failed without Democrats' participation in the vote. Now, her future is unclear.
Republicans who control the Legislature could use the Joint Committee on Legislative Organization to appoint an administrator if they deem the administrator role has been vacant for 45 days. Democrats don't believe there is a vacancy, however. Wolfe's term expires July 1.
The showdown...
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