Representative Krug, thanks very
much for being here.
It's great to be here.
So why are you proposing allowing
an early count of absentee
ballots on the Monday before a
Tuesday election?
Yeah, we just know from the last few
cycles that Milwaukee has been
the the later reporter
amongst the election results in the
state of Wisconsin.
It's led to conspiracies
that there is late night ballot
dumps and all kinds of conjecture
that is built from that and exploded
over the years every time we have a
statewide election.
So the answer is to do what 43
other states do and to figure out a
way that we can get the ballots
counted and people can go to
bed knowing who won the election on
election day.
What kind of support do you have for
that?
You know, the State Assembly voice
voted last session.
This session, we've got to figure
out a way to get it through the state
Senate.
So we've gotta do it a little bit
differently than we did last
session, all the components
of the absentee processing on
Monday are the same as they were
last session and now it's combined
with a few different ideas.
So we got to build some support in
the state senate to get.
One of those ideas has to
do with new security rules for
ballot drop boxes.
Yeah, what do those look like?
So what we did is we worked with
some groups to do some polling, to
see what the most important issues
in elections were and the two things
that people talked about the most
were knowing who won the election
before they go to bed and making
sure drop boxes are safe and secure.
So this built combines those two
ideas and says all the guidance from
the federal government on drop
boxes, all the guidance from the
Wisconsin election commission on
drop boxes, going to put them in for
size, standards, locations,
dates and times of uses, and we're
going to do what other states do and
where do you record the use of drop
boxes in the state of Wisconsin?
So when President Trump says he
wants to ban mail-in voting
and go back to hand counting
ballots, you said in
an article I read, quote,
we put out the fire, he stokes
it. What do you mean by that?
Yeah, there's a competition, right?
Is every time we get to an answer on
what a Wisconsin election should
look like and under the
constitution, we have the right as a
state to decide what our elections
look like.
So our bill package does talk about
a lot of the things that President
Trump has brought up about security,
knowing who the person is, who's
voting, things like that.
But we also want to know, like I've
said a few times that we want to
know who won the election on
election day, going back to hand
counting or not using machines
delays that into perpetuity.
So just trying to set aside.
The conjecture that the machines are
the problem or that we're
having late night ballot dumps, we
can still do absentee voting by mail
in Wisconsin and get the job done
in the election.
Now you're looking for a bipartisan
agreement on these bills and
held a news conference this week
with a Democratic lawmaker.
Here's what she had to say.
I do not endorse any of his bills in
his package, and I don't support the
current draft of Monday processing
or absentee ballot guidelines.
But setting that aside today,
we are meeting the moment our
country and our state has never been
more divided and more contentious.
The partisan divide has become not
just contentious, but even hostile.
Rep Krug and I will continue to
model that civil conversations
and debate can happen in the same
room from the same podium.
And with the same goal in mind, in
spite of diverging ideas.
And as I have told him, I look
forward to the spirited debate in a
future committee hearing.
So this is this is super interesting
that Representative Snodgrass would
say she doesn't endorse your
proposals, but she stands beside
you. What is this about?
We have struck up this relationship
on elections the last three years,
ever since I took the committee
chairmanship, to make sure
that each other at least know what
the others are doing, that we don't
want to surprise each other first
and foremost.
That second, we talk about concepts
before they come to committees so we
can have an idea of what we're
trying to have an exchange of ideas
on.
And third, that, we sit in that room
in front of the public and hash out
our differences when it comes to
what we think is the most important
issue in Wisconsin, it was just
elections.
We know that the building is seen
as, you know, elections are a proxy
for almost everything that we do.
If we don't have safe, secure
elections and trust in our system,
people aren't going to trust anything
else we do in the Capitol.
So this relationship has built
just on the idea that we want to
make sure we each know what we're
doing.
I will say there are Democrats, as
you know, who decry your effort,
saying the bills add in partisan
poison pills that
come from the, quote, extreme
flank of the Republican caucus,
referencing things like rules around
election observers.
What's your response to that?
You know, if they see me as the
extreme flank of my party, I don't
know how to tell them, you know, who
might actually be.
But these are things that we've
talked about in committee the last
three years, whether it's ballot
curing, whether it's drop boxes,
whether its Monday processing.
There's nothing new in
any of this project that we're
working on. It's just the way that
they're combined, I think, that
makes them not understand exactly
what we're trying to accomplish.
Have you worked with Governor Evers
on any of this?
Do you expect him to sign these into
law should they pass?
You know, and that's what I told the
legislative Democrats, is that, you
know, to be bipartisan, I don't
necessarily need them all to agree.
I need the governor to agree, right?
And we're in this place now where
I think the governor recognizes he
wants to get some more things done.
And like I said, I think the most
important area that he could find
some bipartisan support and build a
legacy is securing our elections
and building trust for everybody in
the state of Wisconsin. So, yeah, we
are, you know, engaged in
conversations with the governor's
office to make sure they understand
exactly what we're trying to
accomplish and how four of these
bills all working together.
Can expand access, ensure results
and make sure we build confidence.
Representative Scott Krue, thanks
very much.
Absolutely. Thank you.