MADISON – Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley has partnered with outside attorneys to represent county employees as federal investigators continue to interview election workers who helped administer the 2020 presidential election in the state’s largest city.
The county’s action is the latest by Milwaukee-area government officials to prepare for a potential court battle over the release of nearly 200,000 ballots cast by Milwaukee voters in 2020.
At the same time, the incoming chairman of the Wisconsin Elections Commission is calling on Crowley and Attorney General Josh Kaul to do more to keep the voters’ ballots from becoming public.
How tens of thousands of city residents voted six years ago is at risk of becoming public in the federal review because their ballots have not yet been destroyed due to a lawsuit still in the courts from a New London man who claims without evidence that the 2020 presidential election was rife with fraud.
Now, as President Donald Trump seeks to relitigate his election loss, the Federal Bureau of Investigation is conducting interviews with state and local election officials and workers who helped administer the election.
In an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Crowley promised to “fight like hell” to keep Milwaukee voters’ ballots private.
“We will fight like hell to make sure that people’s ballots continue to stay private, that nobody will find out who folks voted for, and that they can trust this system,” said Crowley, who also is a Democratic candidate for governor.
“When it comes down to what we’re going to do, we’re going to fight and so we look forward to, if this continues to move forward, I look forward to seeing them in court, because this is quite frankly bullshit.”
WEC commissioner says Crowley, Kaul could do more to keep ballots secret
But the next leader of the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission says Crowley and Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul could be doing more to protect voters’ preferences by seeking to destroy the ballots.
“It does not appear, based on the public record, that the county has been very vigorous in trying to get permission to dispose of their ballots, especially the ones that could identify how 180,000 Milwaukeeans voted,” Don Millis, a Republican member of the commission, said in an interview.
“And if the county is not going to do it, it makes sense for someone like the Attorney General to intervene and represent the voters of Wisconsin so that these ballots can be processed in the way that the law allows.”
“There’s no circumstance under which this election denier from New London is entitled to receive the ballots of 180,000 absentee voters so that he can figure out how they voted.”
A spokesman for Kaul declined to comment. A spokesperson for the county’s office of corporation counsel said due to the lawsuit, the county is “required” to preserve the ballots.
“Milwaukee County could face negative legal consequences for violating the litigation hold,” the spokesperson said.
County gets help from outside election group
Crowley said the county has partnered with Democracy Defenders Fund, a liberal-leaning law firm that specializes in election law and is led by former Obama official Norm Eisen. He said the group is going to be working with the county’s attorneys “to make sure that we can protect people who may be targeted by the FBI.”
A spokesperson for Democracy Defenders Fund did not respond to a request for an interview. A Crowley spokesman said the group is working pro bono.
Milwaukee’s Common Council voted June 2 to authorize City Attorney Evan Goyke to hire outside counsel for election-related needs in the wake of the probe.
“The fear that people have related to the FBI wanting to continue, as well as Donald Trump wanting to continue to re-litigate and potentially, you know, unmask who people voted for and seeing exactly who they voted for, people should be concerned,” Crowley said.
“We’re always willing to have conversations and participate in any active issues that are going on, right? But they don’t call us,” Crowley said. “With a lot of the uncertainty that is out there, there’s a lot that we still have not been privy to because they have not contacted us within Milwaukee County. But we are prepared.”
Molly Beck can be reached at molly.beck@jrn.com.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee County gets outside attorneys to keep 180,000 absentee ballots secret
Reporting by Molly Beck, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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By Molly Beck, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | USA TODAY Network
