you. At the state Capitol today, state Republican leaders held a
press conference ahead of the Harris visit, downplaying
enthusiasm for the dem candidate and slamming her policies.
>> She's not going to be able to pass herself off, as you know,
working class individual. You know, she's always been part of
the elite, and now she wants to become president without telling
the American public exactly who she is and what she stands for,
what policies she would impose on our society. So again, the
enemy of the Harris campaign and of Democrats in general, is the
truth and the reality situation that they caused the open
border. The 40 year high inflation, the weakness that
America is demonstrating to our global adversaries, which have
literally, literally set the world in flames, certify
election results or face legal consequences.
>> That's the message from a group of nonpartisan voter
advocacy groups to election clerks in Wisconsin and six
other battleground states. The groups are detailing state
specific election laws, including how any clerk choosing
not to certify results could be prosecuted. They say since 2020,
more than 30 local election officials across the country
have tried or threatened to refuse to certify results. None
of them in Wisconsin. But the groups are trying to get out
ahead of any problems with rogue clerks following the 2024
presidential election, protect democracy is among the groups
releasing the rules guidance. Its Wisconsin lead for policy
and litigation on election subversion is Edgar Lin. So what
makes you and others believe that there are election clerks
out there that might refuse to certify results?
>> Yeah, that's an excellent question. And to answer it, I
like to just give a little context. If you don't mind, and
talk about two terms canvasing and certification. You are a
voter and after you cast your ballot, there's a robust process
to make sure every valid vote is verified and tabulated. That
process is called the canvass. Certification ends the canvass.
The role of certification is not about verifying the final count,
but simply to kind of sign off on the verification process
that's already been performed. So if I if I may use a sports
analogy, you can think of the certifying election official as
a scorekeeper in a basketball game, a scorekeeper whose sole
job is to make sure that the number of the points for each
team add up correctly so we know who the winner is, right? It's
the referee and not the scorekeeper who is responsible
for enforcing the rules of the game. And at the end of the
game, the scorekeeper doesn't get to go back and say, I don't
think X, Y, and Z shots should have counted because I don't
believe, the shooter, I believe the shooter traveled or
something like that. It's just not the scorekeeper's job. So to
your question of why would a clerk refuse to certify
certification? Used to be a pretty quiet, mundane part of
the election process. People don't pay attention to it.
Things started to change in 2020 when we saw a rise in election
related conspiracy theories and accusations, baseless
answer your question, since then, a small number of
officials motivated by partizanship or conspiracy
certification or the sign off process as a place to disrupt
the election when they don't like the results. So I'll just
emphasize that this has happened a few dozen times. As you
mentioned earlier in in various states in the last four years.
But the vast majority of election officials across the
country and here in Wisconsin have been committed to
performing their jobs, doing their jobs, certifying the
election results. And today, all these attempts have failed.
Courts have promptly ruled against these efforts as they
violate the law just because refusing to certify isn't legal.
>> So even in Wisconsin, where Republican false electors scheme
played out, as you say, no clerks have refused to certify
results here. And still you you see the need to remind Wisconsin
clerks of this. >> I do, I think part of it is
just a also a public education. There might be folks who are not
aware of this, but it's very clear both state and federal
law, Wisconsin law says certification is mandatory. It's
a ministerial duty. In other words, scorekeepers or
scorekeepers. And referees or referees. Our state law and
legal precedent are clear. Election officials have a duty
to follow the law, so but I do think the more education we can
give, the better. >> Are there any legal reasons
why a clerk could not certify results?
>> No. They are required to certify results.
if any? You know, so-called rogue clerk were to not certify?
>> Yeah. It would be met with swift legal action. But let me
start with this. As you mentioned, Wisconsin has not had
anybody attempt to not certify or refuse to certify since 2020,
unlike other states. We just had a really smooth primary. Our
local election officials are doing their jobs regularly,
fulfilling their roles as stewards to our democracy. But
if a county official refused to certify either in bad faith
because of partizanship or baseless claims of fraud, or
because they genuinely misunderstand their legal
state actors like the attorney general or the Wisconsin
Election Commission, and even voters can bring legal actions
to compel them or to make them do that job. It's called a
mandamus action. The attorney general or local district
attorneys may also prosecute bad actors for election fraud by
election officials. Again, all failed so far, as I
mentioned earlier. And that's because our courts operate on
law and facts and not on conspiracies. And conjecture.
>> All right. Well, thank you >> All right. Well, thank you