MADISON (WKOW) -- Following aWisconsin sheriff claimingthe state's election commission broke the law in 2020, the Wisconsin Election Commission (WEC) called an emergency meeting Thursday night.
The meeting went into closed session almost immediately and did not return to open session.
Christopher Schmaling, the Racine County Sheriff, said the WEC broke the law when it changed its guidance allowing nursing home staff to help residents fill out their ballots because special voting deputies were not allowed in facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The commissioners releaseda lengthy statementfollowing the meeting, which strongly denied the allegations.
"We knew that for the protection of residents, only essential workers (which did not include SVDs) were being allowed into facilities across the state," Commissioner Julie Glancey said. "As such, we knew it was essential to preserve the right to vote for those residents, so rather than require the absurdity of sending SVDs to knock on a locked door, we pivoted to the absentee voting process."
Commission Chair Ann Jacobs said Schmaling's claims were not true, and she said the change in procedure helped more Wisconsin voters cast their ballots in 2020.
"To put it simply, we did not break the law," she said. "In fact, without action from the Commission, many residents in Wisconsin care facilities could have and would have been disenfranchised and not able to vote in the 2020 elections."
In the statement, the commissioners did express concern with Schmaling's claim that one nursing home resident was coerced into voting even after a court found them incompetent and restricted their right to vote.
"The Commission finds it horrifying and offensive if that sort of thing happened in Racine, or anywhere in Wisconsin," Commissioner Dean Knudson said. "Nobody should ever be coerced or otherwise influenced as part of exercising their right to vote. We would encourage and expect the full force of the law to investigate that situation and prosecute any identified offenders."
However, Schmaling has not recommended any charges related to his investigation.
During his press conference Thursday, Schmaling also said some families were concerned their loved ones had voted even though the family said they didn't have the cognitive ability to know what they were doing.
However, the commissioners stressed that only a judge can restrict someone's right to vote.
"An individual’s voting right can be restricted only by an incompetency order from a judge, not a friend, family member or even a doctor," the statement said.
Five of the six WEC commissioners signed the statement. Robert Spindell, a Republican from Milwaukee, did not.
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