The RNC has filed a lawsuit against Racine, accusing the southeastern Wisconsin city of rejecting GOP-approved election inspectors to work at the polls for the Aug. 13 primary.
The suit, filed Friday in Racine County Circuit Court, seeks an order requiring the city to “schedule, train, and otherwise take whatever steps necessary” to ensure those Republicans can work city polls for the Nov. 5 election.
Racine Clerk Tara McMenamin didn’t address the allegation directly in a statement today in which she said the city “is committed to hiring election officials who meet all statutory requirements, irrespective of political affiliation. In anticipation of potential increases in meritless litigation leading up to the presidential election, we are steadfast in maintaining consistent standards.”
The Republican National Committee joined local county Republican parties in lodging similar allegations against Madison and Milwaukee ahead of the April elections and filed complaints with the state Elections Commission. Madison and Milwaukee election officials denied the allegations, saying some identified as election workers had failed to fill out paperwork or complete required training.
Under state law, the Dem and Republican state parties can submit names of nominees to work as inspectors at polling sites during an election year. The suit says state law requires that so long as there are nominees available from either the Dem or Republican parties, “appointments may be made only from the lists of nominees submitted” by those political parties.
Though Republicans submitted the names of 55 nominees to serve as inspectors in Racine, eight were selected to work at the polls for the state primary, while seven of the 47 people nominated by Dems were selected. According to the suit, 90 people who staffed city polling sites for the Aug. 13 election were unaffiliated.
The suit argues Racine improperly passed over qualified GOP inspectors and instead picked those who weren’t affiliated with either party, contrary to state law.
The suit seeks an order that would bar the city clerk from precluding those nominated by the state GOP to work as election inspectors for the Nov. 5 election.
