Wisconsin Republicans have done untold damage to the idea of free and fair elections since Donald Trump lost the 2020 election. Their response to defeat has been infantile, unhinged, and dangerous. From baseless claims of voter fraud to an attempted insurrection to continued sham “investigations” into the election, they are doing their best to undermine faith in elections. They are doing this purposefully so that when they lose next time, they will be in a better position to steal the election and overturn the will of the voters.
There has been no proof of any widespread voter fraud. None. Every Republican claim of mass voter fraud is spurious and self-serving. Republicans want confidence in elections low, and to numb people to claims of fraud, so when they attempt to overturn election results they will get as little pushback as possible. Their actions are transparent, undemocratic, and frightening.
Not satisfied with just undermining confidence in elections, Republicans are also throwing away hundreds of thousands of dollars of taxpayer money on a sham “investigation” into the 2020 election, headed by bumbling former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice Michael Gableman. Gableman has subpoenaed information from specific voting machines in Green Bay and Madison that neither city uses, as well as including numerous misspellings and mistakes. The inept investigation would be comical if the stakes weren’t so dire.
Of course, Gableman’s end goal isn’t actually to uncover widespread fraud- which he won’t. It’s to make sure enough people think there could be fraud that they wouldn’t object when Republicans try to overturn election results that Republicans don’t like.
Our election workers work extremely hard and are members of our community. They deserve better than to be treated as political pawns in Republicans’ partisan attempts to undermine elections. Lies and deception should not be the foundation on which the majority party operates. Unfortunately, we’ve seen that any election loss by them is inherently fraudulent in their eyes, and they will stop at nothing to ensure that they win- even when they lose.
