Five Wisconsin Republican state assembly members introduced a motion to impeach Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) administrator Meagan Wolfe on Thursday over her office’s handling of the 2020 presidential election.
The lawmakers’ motion against the top elections official had 15 articles of impeachment that covered allegations of maladministration and violations of Wisconsin election laws by Wolfe’s office. The Wisconsin state senate has recently witnessed disputes over whether the administrator was ousted or not, along with claims by Democrats that the senate acted illegitimately, the Associated Press (AP) reported. (RELATED: GOP-Dominated State Senate Votes To Fire Election Official)
WEC administrator Wolfe is the second state official Wisconsin Republicans have threatened to impeach, the other being the Democratic-aligned, newly elected state Supreme Court Justice Janet Protasiewicz, according to the outlet.
While it is unknown whether Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos will put the articles of impeachment against Wolfe up to a committee for a vote on whether to proceed, the speaker in mid-September seemingly suggested the elections chief should not remain in her post, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “I think if Meagan Wolfe stays there, it will be even more problematic for people to believe whatever occurs in 2024 is fair,” Vos said. “So for the good of the system, I think that we need to say that in any job, there is always more than one qualified person who could do it.”
Assembly Republicans put forward impeachment articles for elections chief Meagan Wolfe https://t.co/Y0m1FSc3X8
— Journal Sentinel (@journalsentinel) September 21, 2023
Wolfe called the attacks against her “unfounded rumors,” according to the local news outlet. “During my 12 years as a nonpartisan election official, I’ve learned when politicians on either side of the aisle are upset with me, it’s usually because I will not bend to political pressure,” she told reporters. “It’s unfortunate that political pressures have forced a group of our lawmakers to embrace unfounded rumors about my leadership, my role on the commission and our system of elections.”
The articles of impeachment cited a 2022 decision by the Wisconsin Supreme Court that ruled the WEC acted illegally in 2020 when it authorized the establishment of ballot drop boxes in the state as evidence against the administrator.