Governor candidate Tim Michels proposes new 'WEC 2.0' elections board with members from congressional districts
Molly BeckMADISON - Republican candidate for governor Tim Michels wants to create a new state elections board with members from each of Wisconsin's eight congressional districts to replace the current Wisconsin Elections Commission, an agency he's dubbing "WEC 2.0."
While debating GOP primary candidates Rebecca Kleefisch and Tim Ramthun on Wednesday, Michels announced the latest detail to an evolving plan to replace the state's Elections Commission.
With most of the state's congressional districts represented by Republicans, the proposal could result in a partisan elections oversight board depending on how appointments are made.
The commission has come under criticism from Republicans over how the 2020 presidential election was administered, prompted by false claims of voter fraud from former President Donald Trump.
Michels, who is endorsed by Trump, said the new board would be more "representative" than the commission's current bipartisan makeup of three Democrats and three Republicans.
More:Donald Trump to stump for Tim Michels in Waukesha ahead of Wisconsin's primary election for governor
"To me, that makes a lot of sense. Then we have representation from up north and down in Kenosha, and in the northwest corner of the state," Michels said in a debate hosted by conservative radio host Dan O'Donnell on 1130 AM.
"If people have a problem with that representative on the new, whatever the replacement is — WEC 2.0 board — they can go to their congressman. There's much more direct representation there."
It's unclear who would appoint the members of the proposed board. Aides to Michels did not answer whether Michels meant each Wisconsin member of the U.S. House would make the appointments.
"As Tim said in the debate, Rebecca Kleefisch failed to take responsibility for the organization created in her organization. She had plenty of time to fix it while in office and didn't," Chris Walker, adviser to Michels' campaign, said. "Tim will abolish WEC and believes a replacement should include representation from every corner of the state."
The state constitution does not prohibit members of Congress from appointing to state boards, but the move would be unusual if not unprecedented.
Kleefisch, who served as lieutenant governor to former Gov. Scott Walker, criticized Michels' plan during the debate, characterizing the proposal as confusing.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission has become a target of frustration for a dominant portion of the Republican electorate that believes widespread voter fraud or irregularities manipulated the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, despite a lack of evidence to support that belief.
Republicans have turned against the commission also because of policies it approved during the 2020 presidential election.
The commission mailed absentee ballot applications to all voters, advised local officials on how to make ballot drop boxes secure and set new policies for voting in nursing homes because of the coronavirus pandemic. State law requires clerks to send poll workers to nursing homes, but the commission told the clerks to ignore that law and send residents absentee ballots because nursing homes weren't allowing visitors during the pandemic.
Few Republicans criticized the commission's decisions when they made them but called out the agency after Joe Biden narrowly defeated Trump in the state. Recounts, nonpartisan state audits and court rulings confirmed Biden's win.
More:How nursing home voting in Wisconsin became a focus of Republicans scrutinizing the 2020 election
In May, Michels changed his stance on who should run elections in Wisconsin, saying he was joining other Republican candidates in calling for dissolving the state Elections Commission after previously calling to preserve the commission but firing its commissioners and much of its staff.
He said after talking to state GOP convention-goers and Republican Elections Commissioner Bob Spindell, he now believes the commission should instead be abolished.
"I realized that it was an unsolvable problem and that we have to disband WEC and start over," Michels said Wednesday.
The law creating the state Elections Commission was signed by Walker.
Kleefisch also has proposed a partisan plan to replace the Elections Commission by putting some election oversight in the Secretary of State's Office or with the state Legislature.
Michels said Wednesday he does not support putting election duties in the Secretary of State's Office and that more than one person should be accountable.
Contact Molly Beck at molly.beck@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter at @MollyBeck.