Wisconsin Elections Commission approves presidential recount guidance

by Baylor Spears, Wisconsin Examiner
November 1, 2024

The Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) approved communication to election clerks Friday to help prepare them for a potential recount of presidential election results in Wisconsin. Commissioners also approved guidance for clerks about how to handle prospective voters who present photo IDs marked as “Limited Term” and “NonDomiciled,” which could indicate they weren’t citizens when it was issued.

Wisconsin received petitions for a full or partial recount of the presidential elections in 2020 and 2016. In both years, the results in Wisconsin were decided by about 20,000 votes. Under state law, a recount is permitted if the margin is 1% or less between the top two vote-getters.

WEC Administrator Meagan Wolfe said the materials were being considered to make sure that the commission can communicate to local election officials the timeline and process for a recount, “so everybody’s prepared and they can staff appropriately.”

“In 2020, the Commission considered making some changes after the election to clean up things … and that was met with a lot of resistance because people didn’t want the commission to be changing things once we already knew who the parties to a recount might be,” Wolfe said. “Today’s memorandum and the draft communication are really meant to make sure that everybody’s on the same page.”

Commissioners unanimously approved the communication, which includes information about recount deadlines, information needed to determine recount fees, minor revisions to the recount manual and about how commission staff plans to compile unofficial county results to track recount margins.

A recount must be requested within one business day of the elections commission receiving all the completed county canvasses. The deadline for a recount would be Nov. 30.

“We’ve presented a timeline that shows exactly when the various aspects of a recount would take place, so that again our local election officials and any potential parties to a recount would be able to prepare for that possibility and understand when that recount could potentially occur,” Wolfe said.

The communication will also include information to help clerks make preliminary estimates of the cost of a recount. Wolfe said election officials should plan ahead so that if a candidate is within the recall margin and asks for a recount, officials can produce a cost estimate quickly, which the candidate must pay for. In 2020, former President Donald Trump paid $3 million for recounts in Milwaukee and Dane Counties, which confirmed President Joe Biden’s victory.

“We don’t want to be thinking about it for the first time when there is some type of recount pending,” Wolfe said. “We want to think about it ahead of time and make sure that everybody’s prepared to provide that information in a very expedited way.”

Wisconsin has a decentralized election system with 1,850 Municipal clerks and 72 County clerks — a total of 1,922 local election officials. On election night, municipal clerks will report unofficial results to their county clerks. The Commission plans to go to each county’s website, see the unofficial results that have been posted, and enter the data in a spreadsheet for the federal contest and for any other state-level contest where the margin may be close and post it publicly.

“Usually we do this sort of behind the scenes because we have to know, is there a contest or candidate where we’re within the recount margin if they’re eligible,” Wolfe said, “but I think this is a more transparent way to do it, so that everybody knows where that data comes from and where to turn to to find whether or not a contest is eligible to request a recount.”

Clerks will receive communication about one substantive change to the recount guide: the removal of guidance that clerks can conduct administrative review of recount materials before the Board of Canvassers meets. The change was for transparency and statutory compliance purposes, according to the draft communication. Other changes were not substantive and added statutory citations, provided additional detail or clarity or reorganized information to resolve ambiguities.

The commission also approved guidance for clerks about IDs issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) with “limited term” and “NonDomiciled” labels, which are issued to temporary visitors. The DMV has been able to issue these types of ID since 2016.

Wolfe said during a press call that there have been some questions about noncitizens in voting, and that there’s been “a lot of really inaccurate information” on the issue. She emphasized that noncitizens are not allowed to vote in elections. Republicans have focused on the issue of noncitizen voting in recent years, and placed a referendum on ballots this November to amend the Wisconsin Constitution to change one word to prevent non-U.S. citizens from voting in any local, state or federal elections.

“We understand that some non-citizens that are in the country legally may have a photo ID issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles that shows the word ‘limited term’ or ‘non-domicile.’ It’s also important to understand that, in many circumstances, an individual who may have that type of ID could in fact be a U.S citizen, if they have since been naturalized after receiving that limited-term license,” Wolfe said during a press call ahead of the meeting. “This is why the guidance our commission is considering today emphasizes to poll workers that they would need to follow proper challenge procedures that would allow the voter to respond to any such allegations.”

The guidance explains that IDs marked “Limited Term” indicate that the ID holder is “a non-immigrant (Temporary Visitor) with legal status in the United States” and IDs marked “Non-Domiciled” indicate a commercial driver’s license holder is “a non-immigrant (Temporary Visitor) with legal status in the United States.” It says that, in accordance with statutes, the licenses must be accepted as a proper form of voter identification, but that possessing a valid identification does not necessarily mean the holder of the identification is eligible to vote.

The draft guidance states that if an election inspector notices that a photo ID contains an indication that the individual may not be eligible to vote, state law directs that the inspector examine whether the person’s qualifications to vote should be challenged. It also provides a script clerks can use.

“This is not a change in procedure or law,” Wolfe continued. “The challenge process has always been an avenue for election inspectors to ensure that only eligible voters can participate. For instance, if a poll worker were to see that based on someone’s photo ID, they’re only 16 years old, they would initiate the same challenge process to that voter’s eligibility.”

Commissioner Bob Spindell, a Republican, cast the only vote against the guidance.

Commissioner Mark Thomsen, a Democrat, said it’s unfortunate the issue came up.

“We used this law in 2016 when Donald Trump won, and we’ve used it in every election since that. This hasn’t been an issue,” Thomsen said. “I voted for years without even ever giving my poll worker an ID. We used to actually just trust each other and our neighbors to run the elections, and I really believe we have to get back there. I trust the people in my neighborhood to run the election, and we know we run clean elections in Wisconsin, and we should stop the talk about all this nonsense that we can’t trust our neighbors.”

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