{"id":10224,"date":"2024-04-16T18:28:18","date_gmt":"2024-04-16T18:28:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/?p=10224"},"modified":"2024-04-16T19:25:04","modified_gmt":"2024-04-16T19:25:04","slug":"rep-janel-brandtjen-threats-to-wec-chief-dont-help","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/?p=10224","title":{"rendered":"Rep. Janel Brandtjen: Threats to WEC Chief Don\u2019t Help"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post originally appeared at https:\/\/www.wisconsinrightnow.com\/brandtjen-threats-to-wec-chief-dont-help\/<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

(The Center Square) \u2013 One of the biggest critics of Wisconsin\u2019s election administrator says no one should be threatening her and says threats don\u2019t help fix election integrity issues.<\/p>\n

State Rep. Janel Brandtjen, R-Menomonee Falls, on Tuesday offered her thoughts after the Wisconsin Elections Commission confirmed elections administrator Meagan Wolfe is receiving extra security protection.<\/p>\n

“Threatening Administrator Meagan Wolfe, or any election official, is unacceptable and counterproductive. Venting frustrations on individuals like Wolfe, clerks, or poll workers is not only illegal but also harmful to rebuilding trust in our elections,\u201d Brandtjen said. \u201cThreats only undermine our republic and empower the courts and media. It’s essential to address any concerns about election processes through legal channels. Threats have no place in our democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brandtjen has been one of Wisconsin\u2019s loudest critics of Wolfe. She led hearings as far back as 2021 into Wolfe\u2019s role in the 2020 election. Brandtjen also led the push to get Wolfe removed from the Elections Commission.<\/p>\n

\u201cWolfe\u2019s term has indeed expired, and according to Wisconsin Statutes 15.61(1)(b)1,<\/a> she should be removed, but Republicans are too worried about the press or too compromised to follow existing law.\u201d Brandtjen said.<\/p>\n

The Wisconsin Elections Commission on Monday clarified that Wolfe is receiving extra security but refused to offer any details.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Wisconsin Elections Commission has had productive conversations about safety and security with state leadership, including the governor\u2019s office, which is tasked with approving security measures for state government officials,\u201d WEC spokesperson Riley Vetterkind said in a statement. \u201cThose conversations have resulted in additional security measures being approved for Administrator Wolfe and the WEC when the need arises.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brandtjen on Tuesday blamed Wisconsin Republicans, and once again blamed Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, for Wolfe\u2019s continued time on the Elections Commission.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s disappointing that Sen. Dan Knodl and Rep. Scott Krug, chairs of the election committees, have not exercised their investigative and subpoena powers. This inaction has allowed the neglect of essential laws, such as providing ballots to individuals declared incompetent, lack of checks in military ballot requests, an insecure online system, and improper guidance on voting for homeless individuals without proper documentation,\u201d she said. \u201cThe Legislature, particularly Speaker Vos’ control, is responsible for the frustration caused by election irregularities due to their inaction.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wisconsin\u2019s local election managers have reported an uptick in threats and angry rhetoric since the 2020 election, and some local election offices have taken extra precautions. But there haven\u2019t been any cases in Wisconsin where someone has acted on an election threat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This post originally appeared at https:\/\/www.wisconsinrightnow.com\/brandtjen-threats-to-wec-chief-dont-help\/ (The Center Square) \u2013 One of the biggest critics…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":70,"featured_media":10226,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wi-right-now"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/70"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10224"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10224\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10227,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10224\/revisions\/10227"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}