Milwaukee County officials are “ready to fight” possible subpoenas for their election machines for an election audit, according to an article published by WISN 12. One of the 2020 election reviews in Wisconsin is being led by former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman, and there are rumors that he will be subpoenaing Milwaukee County election machines.
As reported by WISN 12, Milwaukee County Clerk George Christenson said on Sunday that, “If they ask for election machines, it just further shows they don’t know what they’re talking about.” Christenson made the case that subpoenas and the ensuing investigation would only “hurt taxpayers.”
He said, “There’s no reason for us to invalidate, decertify our election machines especially when we have elections coming up. In addition, to replace those machines, we’re talking about $3.6 million. So this is again going to hurt the taxpayers of Milwaukee County.”
Gableman, the election reviewer, allegedly hasn’t disclosed whether he will attempt to obtain subpoenas for the machines at this point, or what machines would be impacted. Gableman told WISN 12 in an interview last month, “What I need to do is take a very hard look at how precisely those machines are supposed to work. And then I anticipate having serious conversations, in-depth substantial conversations with the people on the ground who use those machines.”
Gableman said that, “My mission is [to] try to do whatever I can so that going forward, people can have confidence that their vote counts.” He also firmly believes that election integrity and investigations are “not a partisan issue.”
Gableman was hired by Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R), who has pledged to assist Gableman in obtaining whatever information he needs. Vos said in an interview in mid-August that he intends on supporting subpoenas. He said, “My intention is to give Justice Gableman any subpoena he needs.”
According to WISN 12, “Gableman’s review is expected to cost $680,000 in taxpayer funds and be complete sometime this fall.” A full report will be issued at some point after the review is completed, Vos said.
WISN 12 also reported that Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers (D) has been critical of the three separate election investigations that are under way. Another of the investigations is allegedly being completed by the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau. Evers said, “What comes of this is wasted time and money. It became clear to me when I saw the picture of Speaker Vos and Donald Trump on the airplane that the Kool-Aid had been fully drunk.”
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Hayley Tschetter is a reporter with The Minnesota Sun and The Wisconsin Daily Star | Star News Network. Follow Hayley on Twitter or like her Facebook page. Send news tips to [email protected].
Photo “Vote Here” by Erik (HASH) Hersman CC BY 2.0.
