Wisconsin elections chief says audit report needs correcting

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin Elections Commission administrator Meagan Wolfe testified Tuesday that a recent audit of the 2020 presidential election in the state from the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau contains a handful of errors that will need to be corrected.

Addressing lawmakers for the first time since the release of the report, Wolfe told the Joint Legislative Audit Bureau that many of the report’s inaccuracies could have been addressed before it was released in late October. Wolfe said the bureau decided to publish it without giving the agency or its staff a chance to respond.

“I do think that we should all want this to be an accurate record of the election,” Wolfe said.

Wolfe said a section of the report pertaining to information the agency obtains through the nonprofit Electronic Registration Information Center, which flags voters who may have moved, contained “numerous inaccuracies.”

She said the report implies that the state missed several opportunities to obtain such data, but noted the numbers are only available during specific periods, the Wisconsin State Journal reported.

Wolfe and the six-member bipartisan commission have come under attack from Republicans who have alleged a handful of cases of voter fraud in Racine County and have questioned the commission’s conclusion that there was no widespread fraud in the 2020 election that would have affected its outcome. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos has called for Wolfe’s resignation.

The bureau’s report also did not identify any widespread fraud in the battleground state, but made dozens of recommendations on how the state might improve its elections.

Wolfe’s testimony on Tuesday was not representative of the six-member commission. Republican Rep. John Macco called it “insulting.”

“I just find the whole thing a joke today and you’ve done nothing to allay my concerns,” Macco said.

State auditor Joe Chrisman said the Legislative Audit Bureau will take into account Wolfe’s testimony and any formal response from the commission to determine next steps or updates to the report.

Meanwhile, a bipartisan group of more than 50 elections officials is rallying behind Wolfe. They sent a letter Monday to Vos attributing much of the success of Wisconsin elections to Wolfe’s leadership. The letter was organized by the nonpartisan Center for Election Innovation and Research.

“Year after year, Wisconsin election officials deliver accurate, secure, and accessible elections that give voice to the citizens of the state,” the letter reads.