Wisconsin Conservatives Cite ‘Election Bribery’ in State Supreme Court Defeat

Interior view of the Wisconsin Supreme Court courtroom, inside the Wisconsin State Capitol building, Madison, Wisconsin, on July 24, 2013. CCO 1.0 via Wikipedia

Out-spent and out-hustled, Wisconsin conservatives suffered a crushing loss this month when a liberal won a seat on the state Supreme Court.

The defeat has some Republicans calling the results “tainted.”

About a month before the April 4 election, conservative activists became aware of an online left-wing get-out-the-vote project that was drumming up votes for the progressive candidate in exchange for gift cards.

By that time, it was too late. The gift card ploy went on to play its small part in boosting Democrat turnout.

Historically, the higher the voter turnout in Democrat strongholds the better the chance of victory for progressive candidates.

To accomplish this, Democrats have created innovative ways of using public information to digitally keep close track of the status of absentee ballots and then shepherd their voters into mailing them in.

In some states, Democrats also send out workers to collect absentee ballots as a service to their voters in a process called “ballot harvesting.”

Judge Janet Protasiewicz onstage during the live taping of "Pod Save America," hosted by WisDems at the Barrymore Theater in Madison, Wis., on March 18, 2023. Jeff Schear/Getty Images for WisDems

Fight Fire with Fire?

The techniques have proven to be effective in recent elections across the country, causing debate among some Republicans over adopting the controversial campaign method themselves.

Democrats consider the gift card practice a legitimate paid canvassing tactic.

Republicans equate it to buying votes.

When the votes were counted, Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Janet Protasiewicz, a liberal, handily beat conservative Daniel Kelly 55.5 percent to 44.5 percent in a non-partisan contest to replace a soon-to-retire conservative justice.

When Protasiewicz begins her 10-year term in July, she will give progressives a four-to-three majority on the state’s highest court.

GOP Files Ethics Complaint

In early March, Jordan Moskowitz, a qualified elector from Madison with ties to the Republican Party of Wisconsin, filed a complaint with the Wisconsin Ethics Commission against non-profit Wisconsin Takes Action and the Organizing Empowerment PAC for failing to register as a political action committee.

The respondents answered that they are operating within the law.

The complaint contained a link to a Zoom call in which progressive activists recruited “mobilizers” and introduced them to a training app.

‘Relational Organizing’

The app taught the mobilizers to make a list of 75 family members, friends, former classmates, and coworkers, and then contact each one four times before the election urging them to get out and vote for progressive ideas and candidates.

A trainer’s explanation captured on a recording of the Zoom call made express mention of Janet Protasiewicz.

Mobilizers were promised up to $270 in gift cards if they made the contacts required and an additional $30 payment for each person they recruited to download the training app.

The sophisticated project also contained a way for the creators to statistically measure the effectiveness of the operation in the Wisconsin election.

In a recorded online training session obtained by Just the News, organizers claimed their methodology was first tried in 2020 during the Georgia Senate runoff election and that it worked well in Nevada in the 2022 midterms.

In that session, the trainers also said the program may be rolled out to all of the swing states in 2024.

Smacks of ‘Bribery’

In a press release, state Rep. Janel Brandtjen (R-Menomonee Falls) said, “Wisconsin Takes Action seems to have reached out to hundreds, if not thousands, of voters around the state using Zoom calls to commit election bribery” and that the practice may violate Wisconsin law.

Wisconsin State Assemblywoman Janel Brandtjen. Photo courtesy of Janel Brandtjen

The pertinent state statute makes it a felony for any person to offer, give, lend, or promise to give or lend, or to endeavor to procure, anything of value to an elector, or to any other person in order to induce him to go to or refrain from going to the polls; and to vote or refrain from voting for or against a particular person or referendum.

It is also a felony in Wisconsin to receive, agree or contract to receive or accept any money, gift, loan, or other valuable consideration in return for going to the polls or refraining from going, and voting for or against a particular person or referendum.

Win at Any Cost

Brandtjen said the gift card tactic called into question the integrity of the 2023 Supreme Court election.

“The willingness of these groups to win by any means necessary should disgust … all the voters of Wisconsin, as this election has now been tainted,” she said in the press release.

Peter Bernegger of the national election integrity group Election Watch told The Epoch Times that a federal law relating to expenditures to influence voting (18 U.S. Code 597) may also have been violated by the practice employed in Wisconsin.

He said the ploy may have been carried out by these organizations without the knowledge of Protasiewicz.

Bernegger called on Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul to investigate the possible violation of state law and on federal prosecutors to evaluate whether federal law has been broken.

Explaining that the chances were slim that anything will come out of such calls, Bernegger said, “There’s not much appetite to look into this because it’s well known in Wisconsin that both parties pay doorknockers to get out the vote.

“When everybody is guilty, nobody is guilty.

“Citizens end up complaining to the very people that are benefiting from the corruption.”

Kaul’s office declined to answer a question from The Epoch Times, saying, “The Attorney General, by statute, is required to provide opinions to legal questions to the legislature and designated government officials, through AG Opinions.”

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers vetoes Republican bills during a news conference in the Capitol rotunda in Madison, Wis., on Aug. 10, 2021. Scott Bauer/AP Photo

A Progressive Alliance

According to its website, Wisconsin Takes Action partners with Black Lives Matter, the American Federation of Teachers, the American Federation of State and Municipal Employees, and other left-leaning organizations to aid progressive causes and candidates.

Wisconsin Takes Action did not return a phone call from The Epoch Times.

Protasiewicz has been a vocal critic of the decisions of the conservative-dominated Wisconsin Supreme Court.

She said on her website that the criminal and civil justice system, our constitutional rights, and democracy itself are “under attack by right-wing extremists.”

When added to the prolific veto pen of Democrat Gov. Tony Evers, the new progressive majority on the high court makes it harder for the Republican-controlled state legislature to enact and sustain new reforms in election administration and in economic and social matters, such as abortion.