Lawyers for a Marinette County resident suing the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) over alleged election fraud are now requesting the judge to hold the commission in contempt of court for breaching a restraining order.
Kevin Scott, attorney for Thomas Oldenburg, accuses WEC of evading Marinette County Circuit Court Judge James Morrison’s temporary restraining order by narrowly interpreting the injunction and devising a plan to circumvent it. He told The Federalist that a hearing for “remedial sanctions” might take place as early as July 10.
This alleged defiance highlights what Scott describes as a rogue state elections commission, led by a controversial administrator who refuses to leave her position despite being effectively dismissed by the state Senate. WEC has reportedly violated state law on multiple occasions. “Here we have WEC acting in contempt of an order already in place,” Scott stated. “The fact that voters and clerks are in this situation right now is due to WEC’s malfeasance.”
Judge Morrison issued the temporary restraining order, blocking WEC from mandating that Wisconsin’s 1,900 local election clerks use questionable absentee ballot envelopes while the court considers the lawsuit’s merits. The lawsuit claims WEC violated Wisconsin election law by approving new ballot envelopes recommended by its staff. These envelopes allegedly force voters to falsely certify that the envelope itself is an original or a copy of the ballot request generated through MyVote, an online portal for absentee ballot requests.
The six commissioners—three Democrats and three Republicans—are accused of once again taking questionable advice from agency attorneys. The judge indicated that the plaintiff was likely to succeed in the lawsuit.
Earlier this year, a different voter challenged WEC’s legal authority to operate MyVote. WEC argued that requests made through the website are considered “email” requests and are thus permissible. However, Wisconsin statutes require that if an absentee ballot is requested by email, the voter must include a copy of the request with an original signature in the envelope. WEC did not inform voters of this requirement, the lawsuit alleges.
WEC subsequently created new, color-coded absentee ballot return envelopes labeled “Forms EL-122.” These forms required applicants to certify that they requested the ballot and that the EL-122 is an original or a copy of the request. The lawsuit contends that this puts hundreds of thousands of absentee voters at legal risk.
Oldenburg’s motion for remedial sanctions claims the commission engaged in a “multi-prong attack on this Court’s authority, and in the process has created the exact situation the Plaintiff, and the Court, sought to avoid.” The judge had set a June 5 hearing on the lawsuit’s merits. However, the League of Women Voters and Disability Rights Wisconsin, leftist intervenors in the case, requested a judge change to Dane County Circuit Court, delaying the hearing.
Scott told The Federalist that this move gave WEC “fortuitous timing.” At its June 10 meeting, the commission took actions that Scott says amount to contempt of court. The court filing alleges the commission “parsimoniously interpreted the Order in the most narrow context possible,” deciding that as long as they didn’t explicitly tell clerks or voters they were required to use the EL-122, they were complying with the order.
Records show the commission also issued “Emergency Rule EL 6.05,” requiring election administrations to instruct absentee voters to sign the “Certification of Voter” section despite its issues. This rule was initially drafted last September, with Gov. Tony Evers approving the language in April.
WEC, the document charges, “has taken no steps whatsoever to give clerks an alternative to using the EL-122 in any upcoming election.” Instead, the commission is “emphatically telling clerks that there is nothing wrong with using the document.”
Oldenburg’s attorneys are asking the court to impose several sanctions, including ordering the commission to “immediately convene a meeting” to overturn its requirement for clerks to use the EL-122 in its current form and to issue a new emergency rule correcting the alleged law violations. The motion also seeks a penalty of up to $2,000 for each day WEC remains in contempt of court and the appointment of a special master to oversee WEC’s election administration through November 7, 2024.
Scott expressed surprise that an elections commission with three lawyers and election law experts did not question whether WEC should comply with the essence and spirit of the order.
