Wisconsin Elections Chair Pushes Milwaukee to Destroy 2020 Ballots

Workers count absentee ballots Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, at the Central Count facility in Milwaukee. Angela Major/WPR

The chair of the Wisconsin Elections Commission wants state Attorney General Josh Kaul to push for the destruction of what he says are more than quarter-million absentee ballots from Milwaukee’s 2020 election, after the FBI interviewed city officials and police.

The call by Wisconsin Elections Commission Chair Don Millis, a Republican, comes after the FBI seized 2020 ballots in Georgia earlier this year amid President Donald Trump’s repeated false claims the election was stolen.

During a Sunday appearance on WISN 12’s “UpFront,” Millis said FBI agents have been “offered up various conspiracy theories” about Milwaukee’s 2020 results that “certain grifters have put out there.” Millis said the agents have been professional and have been given information showing that “there was not any conspiracy or that the counting of the ballots in 2020 was wrong or done improperly.”

Millis said it seems that the FBI is tasked with writing a report for “higher-ups in Washington,” and he voiced frustration about Milwaukee County still storing “265,000 absentee ballots” showing which candidates those people voted for. Millis said they need to be destroyed fast.

“No one is entitled to see those,” said Millis. “Our constitution was built on the idea of a secret ballot, and I’m just frustrated that that hasn’t happened. I just wish that the decision makers who are in charge of this would see that and move more quickly.”

Under state law, election officials may destroy ballots and other records after 22 months.

Millis referenced a “litigation hold” on the absentee ballots in Milwaukee, but didn’t elaborate. Multiple lawsuits against Milwaukee’s election commission and individual commission members have been filed in state and federal court by activist Peter Bernegger of New London. In 2022, Bernegger was fined by the Wisconsin Elections Commission for filing frivolous lawsuits making voter fraud claims.

Milwaukee County has hired outside legal counsel to assist, but Millis said Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul, a Democrat, should intervene to prevent those ballots from being released.

“There certainly is a statewide interest in keeping these ballots, these voters’ preferences secret,” said Millis. “So, I think that may help speed it up, but I think that he’s been frustrated with the slow pace of the litigation.”

A spokesperson for the Wisconsin Department of Justice didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Millis said he believes Milwaukee has the authority under state law to destroy the 2020 ballots regardless of the FBI’s involvement. A best case, he said, would “be tomorrow, but I just don’t think that’s going to happen.”

Fellow Republican WEC member Bob Spindell thinks the FBI should take a look at Milwaukee 2020 ballots

Wisconsin Elections Commission member Bob Spindell, a fellow Republican, told WPR the ballots should be released to the federal government.

Spindell said each absentee ballot has a voter number on it, “but to think that the federal government is going to take several hundred thousand ballots and try and match them up is really ridiculous, and we know that 85 percent of the voters in the city of Milwaukee vote Democratic anyway.”

“So, I think that’s a red herring, and I think the FBI should take a look at these,” Spindell said. “And I think the Wisconsin Election (Commission) should cooperate with any investigations.”

Spindell also said the commission should turn over its voter registration list to the federal government, so that it can check and make sure that any non-citizens be taken off the voter rolls.

The U.S. Department of Justice is currently appealing a lawsuit seeking voter registration records that include individuals’ driver license numbers or portions of their social security numbers. A federal district court judge dismissed the case last month.

Milwaukee mayor says FBI questions about the 2020 election are part of Trump’s ‘vanity project’

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson was more direct in his criticism of the federal government’s interest in how it conducted the 2020 election during his appearance on WISN-TV. Johnson claimed the FBI has only focused on states where Trump lost.

“There’s nothing that’s going on,” said Johnson. “This is a vanity project. I don’t want to give any additional light to these efforts to relitigate an election that was decided.”

Johnson said Trump is refusing to abide by the will over the voters “unless he wins” and took a swipe at Republican Congressman Tom Tiffany, who is running for governor and said in May that the FBI should be able to question election officials.

“That’s why I encouraged the representative to, if you have an issue, come to City Hall,” said Johnson. “Let’s have a conversation. I’ll have you meet with our elections folks yourself. Don’t sign up for this mess that the president is dragging this country through.”

Wisconsin elections chair wants state to speed destruction of Milwaukee’s 2020 ballots amid FBI probe was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.