LETTER: Impeachment ploy shows GOP reps need election training

To Ozaukee Press:

Some Republicans in the Wisconsin Legislature are circulating a bill to impeach Meagan Wolfe, administrator of the Wisconsin Elections Commission, despite the fact—or is it because of the fact?—that she has an outstanding record as an elections administrator whose legal obligation is to implement the procedures put in place by the Elections Commission.

Ms. Wolfe’s administration of our elections has not only achieved very high marks by nonpartisan organizations that rate them, but has also survived countless court challenges and a disgraceful and embarrassing “investigation” by a conspiracy theorist—at taxpayers’ expense.

A letter sent to Assembly Speaker Robin Vos in November 2021 from 51 election officials, lawyers and others, from both red and blue states, in support of Meagan Wolfe stated the following: “Ms. Wolfe is one of the most highly skilled election administrators in the country, respected widely by election officials in Wisconsin and throughout the nation. Wisconsin is lucky to have her, and it would be hard to identify many election officials with more expertise, dedication, and integrity than Ms. Wolfe, who achieves all this within the highest standards of nonpartisan fairness.”

Instead of impeaching someone who’s done an outstanding job for over a decade, why not require that both senators and representatives have annual training about how elections are conducted? I had it every year when I was a local election official, and had additional training my last five years as a chief inspector. Legislators could benefit from that training, especially when proposing bills designed to safeguard our elections.

Perhaps then there would be less inclination to believe the baseless claims that our elections have been rigged, that “someone did something suspicious.” The legislators who promote those claims are contributing to the lack of confidence in our elections, not the election officials themselves and certainly not the person who’s administered them so well for so many years.

Kate Houston

Ephraim, Wis.