Election Folly

The Republican Party of Marathon County made a request to the County Clerks office seeking information on how Wausau handled the April 5 Spring Election. They wanted to clear up any questions regarding the integrity of the Wausau election. The Marathon County GOP went as far as asking for the names of those who served as election observers, names of people submitting election results and even the internet provider. This is of course their right to ask but I believe they do this to sow seeds of distrust. This request has since been dropped.

What I aim to do is to dispel election fraud myths that seem to be running rampant.

I had the honor of sitting in to watch one of the recounts from this spring’s elections in Marathon County. Anyone may attend a recount. We had some incredibly close races, and that’s great, this is democracy at work! These circumstances encourage a candidate to request a recount. The procedures for this are petitioned at the same office the candidate files their declaration of candidacy, the county clerk’s office. The election commission is notified of any recount. From there, public notice is given. The petitioner and other candidates are encouraged to obtain legal counsel for any questions that ay come up. As an observer, everyone is required to wear a name tag making it possible to quickly identify everyone. Canvass board members and tabulators are the only ones to touch ballots and there be no interference to them.  Everyone there is allowed to view, identify, and ask questions. Everything said is documented in the minutes.

My hat is off to the poll workers who did an incredible job. They work long and thankless hours on election day. The poll workers attend trainings and come back for recounts. Everything I witnessed was conducted with care, done meticulously, and professionally. All procedures were done by the book. I believe we have honest elections.

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