MILWAUKEE — The Republican National Committee announced its suing the Milwaukee Election Commission over the apparent limiting of poll observers on Election Day.
The lawsuit alleges the commission has said that certain precincts may only be limited to one Republican and one Democrat poll watcher on Tuesday, Nov. 5.
It also says the commission hasn’t disclosed which of the precincts will be affected by this. The RNC said this reduces “transparency in the process.”
It comes just one day before the pivotal presidential election and other local races in the state.
The RNC Chairman Michael Whatley and Co-Chair Lara Trump issued the following statement regarding the lawsuit:
“Wisconsin voters deserve to know that there are poll watchers from both parties in the room as votes are being cast and counted on Election Day. The RNC has not recruited and trained thousands of volunteers in the Badger State simply to back down from misguided officials who want to prevent a full measure of poll-watching transparency. This lawsuit will compel officials in Milwaukee to ensure robust poll watcher access for the Republican Party.”
The RNC also expressed concern over whether an official RNC poll watcher will be allowed to observe voting. It also claims outside groups could be “denied the ability to observe.”
Per Wisconsin law, the public has the right to observe the public parts of the voting process at polling locations on Election Day.
The lawsuit points out that while chief inspectors and municipal clerks can restrict these observers to certain areas, it can’t “be less than 3 feet from nor more than 8 feet from the table at which electors announce their name and address to be issued a voter number.”
In the lawsuit, the RNC also lists three locations used during in-person early voting, where it claims the number of observers was limited despite having more capacity.
The commission’s executive director was contacted by RNC Election Integrity Director for Wisconsin Michael Hoffman in an email on Nov. 1, 2024, regarding the apparent limits to be placed on certain locations, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit noted the following response from the commission director:
“I am not able to provide a specific list of locations where we might need to limit observers to one person per party; however, it may occur anywhere the space, access, number of voters, and other prevailing circumstances would require it as a reasonable limitation.”
The Milwaukee Election Commission responded to the lawsuit with the following statement:
“The City of Milwaukee favors the greatest possible transparency during elections. That includes accommodating all observers at election locations.
“The Milwaukee Election Commission (MEC) refutes the claims made by the RNC. Despite the MEC maintaining open communications with the RNC, including meeting as recently as last night, it seems that filing a lawsuit was their goal all along. The MEC denies the allegation that observers will be arbitrarily limited. However, observers may be subject to reasonable limitations, a power given to chief inspectors under Wisconsin law. At no point was the Republican Party denied the presence of an observer during the in-person absentee voting period, nor will they be denied that presence on Election Day.
“Our city attorneys will respond to any lawsuits that are filed.”
You can read the full lawsuit below: