Wisconsin election administrator given extra security after attacks from Trump

Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Meagan Wolfe has been granted additional security following verbal false claims about her from former President Donald Trump.

Trump has publicly falsely accused Wolfe of rigging the election in the battleground state of Wisconsin in favor of President Joe Biden. In 2020, Biden won Wisconsin by a narrow 0.63-point margin of 20,000 votes.

“Every day, I see firsthand evidence that our elections are run accurately and with integrity at the state level and by our local election officials, who do an incredible job registering voters, issuing ballots, and managing the voter rolls in each of our state’s 1,850 cities, towns, and villages,” Wolfe said in a statement to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 

“There are many times I wish I could respond more directly to defend myself, my staff, Wisconsin’s local election officials, and the upstanding way in which we administer elections in this state,” Wolfe said. “However, my role is nonpartisan, and my focus is on impartially administering the upcoming elections.” 

Gov. Tony Evers (D-WI) approved additional security for Wolfe ahead of the November general election to ensure Wolfe can safely perform the duties of her job. 

“Donald Trump’s most recent comments about Administrator Wolfe are vile and disturbing. He’s also wrong. Administrator Wolfe serves with integrity, she is trusted and respected by her colleagues both in Wisconsin and beyond, and I continue to have full confidence in her leadership,” Evers said. “I can’t say the same about Donald Trump.”

Trump has pressured top Republicans in Wisconsin to remove her from her position.

“Meagan Wolfe will try to steal another election,” Trump said in an interview last week with WTAQ. “Robin Vos [Wisconsin assembly leader] should terminate Meagan Wolfe, and they should put somebody in who’s going to be fair, not for the Republicans — just fair. And if they do that, we’re going to win the election by a lot in Wisconsin.”

“I’ve given out big ship contracts … a lot of big contracts that nobody else would have given to Wisconsin,” he said. “I gave, and it never made sense to me. Now, we find out why. No, she should be gone.”

The Wisconsin Elections Commission was created in 2016 as a bipartisan regulatory agency to enforce election laws in the state. Wolfe is likely the first person in this position to receive additional security. 

“I know it’s become more of an issue in recent years for similar election officials across the country,” said Michael Haas, the first administrator of the Wisconsin Elections Commission. “It was certainly not an issue when I was there.”

Election officials and experts warn the falsehoods spread by Trump are harmful. In Wisconsin, the results of the 2020 election were confirmed by a multitude of agencies, including judges, state audits, Trump-financed recounts, a Republican-led review, and a study from a conservative law firm.

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“As the most important voice in one of the major parties, Trump has a unique ability to undermine public confidence through his rhetoric, even though it is often detached from facts about the situation,” said Barry Burden, director of the Elections Research Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

“Confidence in election systems is necessary for a democracy to function in a healthy fashion,” Burden continued. “False allegations to serve a politician’s self-interest might help him energize some supporters, but it harms the integrity of the electoral process.”