The Republican National Committee sued the Milwaukee Election Commission on Monday accusing it of “arbitrarily limiting” poll watchers.
The lawsuit claims that the city plans to restrict certain precincts in the Democrat-dominated city to just one Republican and one Democratic poll watcher on Election Day. Milwaukee election officials have denied all the allegations contained in the lawsuit.
“Wisconsin voters deserve to know that there are poll watchers from both parties in the room as votes are being cast and counted on Election Day. The RNC has not recruited and trained thousands of volunteers in the Badger State simply to back down from misguided officials who want to prevent a full measure of poll-watching transparency,” RNC Chair Michael Whatley said. “This lawsuit will compel officials in Milwaukee to ensure robust poll watcher access for the Republican Party.”
According to the suit, several Milwaukee precincts including the Serb Hall and the Good Hope Library polling locations, limited poll watchers during early voting in the state. The suit claimed these guidelines violated state law and the RNC asks a judge to block any restrictions on poll watchers.
“The issue is that when access is arbitrarily restricted, a situation is manufactured where access is meted out largely according to the whims of the chief inspector,” the suit said. “The statutory criteria are mandatory when considering the establishment of observer areas at polling locations, and it is impermissible to establish an arbitrary number of observers that may be present.”
The Milwaukee Election Commission denied the allegations of the suit, saying that it was “maintaining open communications with the RNC.”
“The [Milwaukee Election Commission] denies the allegation that observers will be arbitrarily limited. However, observers may be subject to reasonable limitations, a power given to chief inspectors under Wisconsin law. At no point was the Republican Party denied the presence of an observer during the in-person absentee voting period, nor will they be denied that presence on Election Day,” Election Commission Executive Director Paulina Gutiérrez said.
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Polls predict a tight race in Wisconsin with former President Donald Trump holding a slight lead over Vice President Kamala Harris. To win the state, Democrats will need high turnout in the urban cities of Milwaukee and Madison. Both Ohio Senator JD Vance (R) and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz (D) spent Monday morning campaigning in Wisconsin.
