Someone writing a mystery novel about sinister forces trying to steal an election might include a scene reminiscent of “Mission: Impossible,” where a central server is hacked and results are altered. But in Wisconsin, that would be an implausible act of fiction because of an intentionally decentralized network of local elections supported by a statewide infrastructure built on a foundation of training and support.
Even though more than 2,500 polling places are operating in tandem on any Election Day, Wisconsin does not have what you would think of as a single election. It is actually a group of more than 1,800 elections happening simultaneously, as each municipality (city, village, or town) handles the responsibility for operating their polling sites, printing ballots, ensuring the voting machines work properly, registering and confirming voters, counting the votes, and reporting results to their county clerks.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission is not the boss of those local elections clerks, but a resource to help all of their operations run uniformly and securely with duties that include post-election audits, constant monitoring of voter registration rolls, and cybersecurity training.
“As we look towards Tuesday, the Wisconsin Elections Commission is busy assisting our local clerks as they prepare for the election,” Wisconsin Elections Commission member Ann Jacobs told UpNorthNews ahead of the Aug. 11 primary, a warmup of sorts for the Nov. 3 general election. “The ballots are printed, the machines are programmed and tested, and election officials statewide are ready … Wisconsin voters should have confidence in the accuracy and security of this election.”
Up to 35,000 poll workers are locally recruited and trained to make sure Wisconsin residents are able to exercise their right to vote conveniently and safely. All voting is done on paper ballots and voting machines are not (and cannot be) connected to the internet.
Debunking the president’s ‘Big Lie’
Starting with his reelection loss in 2020, President Donald Trump has consistently made accusations of election fraud that have never held up in court or under public scrutiny, with his ongoing lack of truthfulness being dubbed the “Big Lie” by Democrats and Republicans alike who oppose Trump’s push for a federal takeover of election administration.
Marge Bostelmann, a Republican member of the Wisconsin Elections Commission, told the audience at a WisPolitics luncheon on election administration in June how upsetting it is to see polling that shows some people believe local clerks have the ability to change vote totals — something that can’t be done because ballots are counted in a public canvass.
“That cannot happen in Wisconsin,” said Bostelmann, the former Green Lake County Clerk who now trains municipal clerks, “because once those totals are called in to the county clerk, they are then brought to the county clerk for our canvass. They look at every tape from the machine. They look at everything to verify that whatever the clerk called in on that night equals what we have on tapes.”
John Vaudreuil, a former US Attorney for Wisconsin, now works with Keep Our Republic, a nonpartisan group dedicated to defending democracy by informing the general public about the safety and accuracy of US elections, which the Constitution entrusts to the states rather than a one-size-fits-all federalized model.
“Clearly a call to nationalize it runs directly 100% contrary to our Constitution,” Vaudreuil told UpNorthNews earlier this year while praising the decentralized, hyper-local operation of statewide elections.
“All of this is done by our friends and neighbors, Democratic, Republican, independent, these are the people who are running our elections. And that decentralization essentially guarantees a fair election. An attack trying to sow distrust in that process is an attack on the friends and neighbors in Wisconsin and other states who run our elections.”
Jacobs says the commission has plenty of online information where the public can examine safety measures and take the first steps toward voting.
“Voters can go to Myvote.wi.gov to see where to vote and who is on their ballot,” Jacobs said. “The Wisconsin Elections Commission also has a FAQ page on their website, elections.wi.gov, where voters with any questions or concerns about the security of the voting process can read and learn about how safe, secure, and accurate Wisconsin elections are.”
