Judge Holds Elections Commission in Contempt of Court

This morning Ozaukee County Judge Paul Malloy has found the state Elections Commission and its three Democratic members in contempt of court for not following his previous ruling on removing voters from the state voting rolls who may have moved. 

After the previous ruling, the state commission has deadlocked twice in voting to remove the voters. The commission is made up of three Democratic and three Republican members. The deadlocks have been along party lines. The Democratic commission members have resisted the voter purge on the grounds that it is not clear that the law actually applies to the commission rather than clerks throughout the state, and because the case is still on appeal. The commission originally had intended to hold off on removing voters from the polls until after the 2020 presidential election, partly because a previous similar voter purge in 2017 resulted in accidental removal of people who were eligible to vote. The validity of the data of potential movers in the ERIC database is in question. Requests to hold on the purge until after the State Supreme Court decides whether to hear the case were rejected by Malloy. 

The judge has fined the commission $50 per day while they do not remove the voters, and has fined the three Democratic members of the commission $250 per day each. 

The Elections Commission will meet Tuesday to determine what their action will be at this time.