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2023 - 2024 LEGISLATURE
2023 ASSEMBLY RESOLUTIO N 24
January 26, 2024 - Introduced by Representatives WICHGERS, BODDEN, ALLEN and
BRANDTJEN. Referred to Committee on Government Accountability and
Oversight.
***AUTHORS SUBJECT TO CHANGE***
Relating to: the impeachment of Meagan Wolfe, the administrator of the Wisconsin
Elections Commission.
Whereas, Meagan Wolfe, in her capacity as the administrator of the Wisconsin
Elections Commission, unlawfully authorized the use of ballot drop boxes by
disseminating two memos to Wisconsin's municipal clerks before the spring 2020
election, asserting that “ballot drop boxes can be used" in Wisconsin elections; and
Whereas, this practice was subsequently deemed illegal under Wisconsin
statutes by the Wisconsin Supreme Court, highlighting that Administrator Wolfe's
advice and encouragement regarding drop boxes were illegal during the period she
provided them; and
Whereas, Administrator Wolfe's sole defense is her stated belief that, in the
absence of express statutory constraints, she has the freedom to formulate and
implement any election-related process or procedure; this belief underscores a
fundamental and intolerable misunderstanding in that it demonstrates
Administrator Wolfe's unfounded belief that she is not only the administrator of
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Wisconsin's elections laws but that in the absence of express and specific law to the
contrary, she is free to be the creator of such laws when in fact she exceeds her
authority when she undertakes to give her personal preferences the force of law; and
Whereas, Administrator Wolfe's directive to clerks to use ballot drop boxes
represents an unwarranted assumption of authority to shape Wisconsin elections
law, contradicting her role as an administrator and posing a potential threat to
democracy; and
Whereas, prior to fall 2020, Administrator Wolfe further reiterated her
unlawful claim of the legality of ballot drop boxes in Wisconsin by coauthoring a
memo with one of her employees urging clerks to seek “creative solutions" for the use
of ballot drop boxes; and
Whereas, Administrator Wolfe's illegal advice led to the widespread use of
ballot drop boxes in Wisconsin's November 2020 election across 66 of the state's 72
counties, totaling approximately 570 drop boxes, with an unknown number being
unsupervised; and
Whereas, despite repeated assertions by Administrator Wolfe regarding the
historical use of ballot drop boxes in Wisconsin, her inability to provide evidence
during legal challenges highlights their irrelevance, as noted by the Wisconsin
Supreme Court, emphasizing that longstanding noncompliance with the law does
not legitimize its illegality; and
Whereas, the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau, responsible for
monitoring state agencies' compliance with the law, reported that Administrator
Wolfe had exceeded her authority in authorizing the use of ballot drop boxes; and
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Whereas, the Wisconsin Supreme Court found that Administrator Wolfe had
“created an entire ballot drop box scheme entirely absent from Wisconsin's election
code"; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the assembly, That due to Administrator Meagan Wolfe's
repeated unlawful advice to the state's municipal clerks, which constituted
maladministration in office, she shall be and hereby is impeached; and be it further
Resolved, That Wisconsinites deserve a chief elections officer committed to
following and applying the law, eschewing unilateral decision-making that could
compromise the integrity of the democratic process.
(END)
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