[Waukesha, Wis.] — Candidate for governor Rebecca Kleefisch penned a column for DrydenWire on Thursday, calling for local governments across Wisconsin to stand up for election integrity and ban the private funding of elections, as happened with “Zuckerbucks” in 2020.
Read the full column in DrydenWire here or read excerpts below.
Locals must lead the way on election integrity
Rebecca Kleefisch
May 26, 2022
Over the past two years, Governor Evers and his allies at the Wisconsin Elections Commission have obstructed every attempt to save our elections. Wisconsinites need to be confident that their votes matter and count the same as every other citizen’s, but it fell on deaf ears.
As governor, you can count on me to sign bills to ban ballot harvesting, get rid of illegal drop boxes, stop Zuckerbucks, and abolish the Wisconsin Elections Commission. I will sign those bills immediately. Republicans will have to win at the ballot box this fall to do that. Unfortunately, Evers will not change anything before then.
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Winning in November is undoubtedly a daunting task. But in the meantime, there’s hope.
Walworth County’s Board of Supervisors banned the use of private funds — like Zuckerbucks. They said “no” to the out-of-state elites who want to influence how we run Wisconsin elections. I’m proud of them for leading the way when Governor Evers wouldn’t do the right thing.
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Today, I’m calling on every county in Wisconsin to follow suit. Each county must enact its own ban on private spending on elections administration. We cannot wait any longer, and these local ordinances will be crucial in our goal to save Wisconsin’s democracy.
I’ve seen local citizens take up the cause when no one else would before. Recently, brave men and women worked to make their communities Second Amendment sanctuaries to fight off unconstitutional Biden administration gun-grabbing. Parents on our school boards are standing up, keeping our kids in school, and keeping Critical Race Theory out. Counties, cities, villages, and towns are stepping up.
It’s time for those same patriots to fight for free and fair elections at the local level. We must take action now. It cannot wait.
