Scott McDonell: GOP perpetuates election fraud lies
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Madison staffers prepare absentee ballots for the 2020 election.
The storming of the U.S. Capitol by armed insurrectionists at the urging of Donald Trump was shocking to America. It was fueled by the lie — perpetuated by the president and elected officials here in Wisconsin — that the election was rigged and fraudulent. Here are some of the most common issues where lies have needlessly spread mistrust in our Wisconsin elections, and which must be stopped if we are to protect our democracy.
Indefinitely confined voters
Voters are legally allowed to designate themselves as indefinitely confined due to age, illness and disability and receive a ballot. This has been the law for decades, and there is zero evidence that this was used to cast illegal ballots in 2020. The reality is that about 10% of absentee voters use this feature each election. The number of indefinitely confined voters increased in 2020 because the number of absentee voters increased due to the pandemic. Milwaukee County, for example, ranked 37th in the state for the increase in the percentage of voters indicating they were indefinitely confined. Dane County saw the 20th highest increase. These were legally registered Wisconsin voters who submitted absentee ballot requests, correctly completed their certificate envelopes and returned their ballots in time to be counted.
Drop Boxes
Almost every community deploys secure drop boxes as a method for voters to return their ballots. How absentee voters return their mailed ballot should not cause their ballot to be thrown out.
Midnight Ballot Dumps
After the polls close, results take time to be sent into the county and posted. Even then, all election night results are unofficial until reviewed and certified in the Board of Canvass process. Larger communities will likely have a larger volume of ballots and a more complicated task that can take more time. Wisconsin clerks have offered several legislative solutions to accelerate ballot processing to expedite election night results, but the very important truth is that the system we have now is accurate. To say otherwise is an overt lie.
Clerks following the law
Clerks are following the law when they follow the policy set by the Wisconsin Election Commission, the legal entity charged with running the election statewide. Through a unanimous and bipartisan vote, the commission directed clerks to do certain things in a uniform manner, such as filling in an absentee ballot witness address if it could be independently verified. To not follow the Election Commission would be the grievous error and not the other way around. Attacking clerks for doing their job is reprehensible.
The laws they are proposing are perpetuating the lie that there was something wrong with our election. State Republicans have a responsibility to tell voters the truth: There was no widespread voter fraud that would have changed the results. Only when we can agree on this basic fact can we begin a meaningful, truthful dialogue about the future of our democracy here in Wisconsin.
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