The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Monday took up a case that will decide whether top election official Meagan Wolfe can remain in her position despite not being reappointed by the commission or confirmed by the Senate after her term ended in 2023.
Wolfe has been Elections Commission Administrator since 2019, and her reappointment was deadlocked in a 3-3 vote by the commission.
This means it was never sent to the Senate, which could vote to confirm or fire her from the role.
Republicans have been trying to remove Wolfe since 2020, when President Joe Biden won the state by 21,000 votes.
There were numerous challenges to the 2020 vote count, but none of them were successful. Republicans seem to think that Wolfe, who is supposed to be non-partisan, favored Biden at the time.
Because no new administrator was appointed, Wolfe has remained in the role, but Republicans argued that she shouldn't be allowed to do so because she didn't go through the confirmation process.
The Senate in particular is upset about being left out of the process. Senate Republicans did vote to fire her, but it didn't mean anything because procedurally, it was out of order.
“Here the question is, can three commissioners essentially cut the Senate out entirely forever?” Misha Tseytlin, attorney for the Republican-controlled Legislature, argued Monday.
Liberal Justice Janet Karofsky didn't think much of the Republicans' argument.
She pointed out that the court already ruled, albeit when conservatives were in charge, that it was perfectly legal for state Natural Resources Board member Fred Prehn, a Republican nominee, to remain in his role when no one else was appointed.
“You are trying to thread a needle here that has no eye,” she said after hearing their arguments.
But Tseytlin pointed out that Prehn's position did not require the appointment of a replacement, while Wolfe's did.
The court has a narrow liberal majority, which occurred when Karofsky was elected in 2023.
The case could have long-reaching effects for Wisconsin electoral politics.
