The column below reflects the views of the author, and these opinions are neither endorsed nor supported by WisOpinion.com.
We’re just days away from the 2024 elections and the lies that will be used to sow distrust in the outcome have started to seep through into the mainstream. In particular, one has started to take root here in Wisconsin.
I saw ads from an organization inappropriately named “Follow The Law” recently calling on clerks to “only certify an accurate election” and “NO RUBBER STAMPS!” This language was chosen deliberately – and it is dangerously misleading because it suggests election officials can choose whether they certify results. But that’s not what the law says.
To start, if there are any issues or irregularities, that should have been addressed during the canvass–not the certification. Certification is simply a signoff that everything in the canvass has been completed as required by law.
In Wisconsin, certification of the election is a statutory requirement, meaning that it is not something a county clerk can choose not to do. Certification of the election result is mandatory, and if a clerk refuses to do that duty, the bipartisan Wisconsin Election Commission has the authority to step in and enforce the mandatory duty to certify.
But let’s take a step back and understand the processes that happen leading up to the clerk’s certification of the result. Here’s a few examples: local election inspectors reconcile poll lists to confirm the list contain identical information and notations, they resolve challenges to ballots, and discard defective ballots (Wis. Stat. 7.51 and WEC’s 200-page Election Day Manual) goes through the detailed process of canvassing). There is a reason that county clerks are required to certify – and that’s because a lot of leg work has already been done to ensure that the results that the clerk is certifying are accurate.
Each municipality will have delivered their final tally sheets, ballots, and other election materials to their county clerk’s office by no later than November 7th at 4 PM. If there are amendments or provisional ballots, that canvass must be completed by the drop dead date of November 11th at 4 PM. That means that the municipalities have already tabulated and cross checked their votes by the time they are delivered to the clerk’s office. That’s step one.
Then step two: a county canvass. County level officials then conduct their full county canvass, going through the results provided to them by each municipality in the county and creating certified vote statements to provide to the Wisconsin Elections Commission by November 19th. This is the stage when a clerk needs to sign off, or certify, on the county canvas.
Here is what Wisconsin statute says about a clerk certifying the results of the county canvass: Immediately following the canvass, the county clerk shall deliver or transmit to the elections commission a certified copy of each statement of the county board of canvassers for president and vice president, state officials, senators and representatives in congress, state legislators, justice, court of appeals judge, circuit judge, district attorney….
Pay attention to the first part of that statement. “The county clerk shall deliver or transmit to the elections commission a certified copy of each statement…” The mandatory language “shall” is reflected in statutory requirements for certification at the local level (polling location), municipal level, county level, and state level (See Wis. Stats. § 7.51(1), (4)(b), (5)(a); Wis. Stat. § 7.51(4)(c); Wis. Stat. § 7.60(3); Wis. Stat. § 7.70(3)).
That language is unequivocal. The results must be certified and failure to do so is a dereliction of duty by election officials.
I work with an organization called RightCount. We talk to voters across this state about the protections our clerks and election workers put in place to keep Wisconsin elections secure. We have voter ID laws that require a government issued ID to vote. Every ballot is tracked on paper to ensure an accurate count. Ballots are stored in secured locations with a chain of custody in every county to prevent tampering. No voting machines are connected to the internet to prevent the potential for hacking.
The bottom line is this: if you have faith in the procedures your local polling place has, you can trust the procedures across the state because they are consistent from one municipality and county to the next.
I’ve sat on the edge of my seat waiting for results to roll in to see who won. It is heart wrenching when, like you, so many of the issues candidates run on impact my daily life. But I know what these election workers and their families go through every cycle. Constant scrutiny, threats, fear and the pressure of knowing that they cannot afford to get it wrong. Instead of confusing our local election workers with lies, we should be supporting their hard work and dedication to our communities.
- Jim Steineke is partner and vice president of advocacy, The Welch Group