Kaul Says He’s Prepared To Defend Election Results
Top Wisconsin law enforcement official says voting is secure, including by drop box.
Attorney General Josh Kaul. Photo by Emily Hamer/Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism. (CC BY-ND 2.0)
After failed attempts to overturn Wisconsin’s presidential election results in 2020, the state’s Attorney General Josh Kaul says he’s once again prepared to defend the election’s outcome this November.
“I certainly think it’s possible that we will see challenges to the results,” Kaul, a Democrat, told WISN’S “UpFront” over the weekend. “There have been baseless suggestions again about the integrity of our elections.”
But Kaul told WISN that, if need be, his office will protect the outcome from challenges, including from lawsuits or from people attempting to decertify the results.
“We have had litigation after litigation regarding our elections, and in some cases, the results of the elections,” Kaul said. “We have consistently won, and we are prepared to defend those results again.”
As he runs for another term against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, Republican former President Donald Trump has continued to repeat false claims that he won the election in 2020.
In June, Kaul’s office filed felony charges against Trump allies Kenneth Chesebro, Jim Troupis and Michael Roman for submitting false paperwork in an effort to upend the 2020 results.
Kaul told WISN that Wisconsin’s criminal investigation into attempts to overturn the 2020 election is still ongoing. And, in response to questions from the hosts of UpFront, he declined to rule out filing criminal charges against Trump as a result of that probe.
“Nobody is above the law, and so we apply the law equally,” said Kaul, who was first elected to the position overseeing Wisconsin’s Department of Justice in 2018. “Now, we’re not going to speculate on who may or may not have evidence that’s gathered against them. What I can tell you is that the decisions that we make with respect to our investigation, and any charging decisions we’re in a position to make, will be based not on the identity of the individuals involved, but on the facts and the law.”
During the interview that aired Sunday, Kaul declined to get into details about the Wisconsin DOJ’s investigation into Wausau Mayor Doug Diny’s actions after Diny removed an absentee ballot drop box that had been stationed outside Wausau City Hall. Kaul cited the ongoing nature of that inquiry.
But Kaul reaffirmed the security of voting in Wisconsin, and said voting absentee by drop box is even more reliable than returning an absentee ballot by mail.
“A drop box is similar, but it’s actually even more secure, because it doesn’t then go through the Postal Service,” he said. “It just immediately goes to an election official. Now, I fully trust the Postal Service, as well, but drop boxes are a safe and secure method of voting.”
Wausau’s drop box did not have any ballots inside it when the mayor removed it. The drop box has since been returned to its position outside of City Hall.
This summer, Wisconsin’s Supreme Court ruled that local clerks have the option to provide ballot drop boxes for voters in their communities.
Wisconsin AG says he’s prepared to defend 2024 election results was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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