RNC Sues Milwaukee Election Officials For Allegedly Limiting Access For Poll Watchers

Amid rampant concerns about the accuracy of this week’s election results, poll watchers arrived at locations nationwide on Tuesday to serve as poll watchers.

In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, however, the Republican National Committee noticed some suspicious activity that has resulted in a lawsuit against the city’s election officials

According to Newsmax:

The lawsuit alleges that some polling sites allowed only one observer per party during early voting, with plans to enforce similar limits on Election Day.

The RNC argues that the limited access could harm transparency and suggests more space should be made for additional observers, especially at key polling sites.

The outlet went on to provide a statement from RNC leaders:

RNC Chair Michael Whatley and co-Chair Lara Trump said in a joint statement that Wisconsin voters “deserve to know” poll watchers from both parties are present when votes are cast and counted on Election Day.

They added: “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. This lawsuit will compel officials in Milwaukee to ensure robust poll watcher access for the Republican Party.”

ADVERTISEMENT

The dispute sparked significant discussion on social media:

The RNC says it is suing the Milwaukee Elections Commission “for the city’s plan to limit poll watchers in certain precincts on Election Day.” pic.twitter.com/VqLWsk48xR

— Matt Smith (@mattsmith_news) November 4, 2024

NEW: RNC sues City of Milwaukee over election observers. Suit alleges: "Milwaukee Elections Commission has been arbitrarily limiting and prohibiting members of the public from observing all aspects of the voting process at polling locations in the City of Milwaukee." pic.twitter.com/1BV8Fgzi3Z

— Jason Calvi (@JasonCalvi) November 4, 2024

RNC Sues Milwaukee for Shutting Out Poll Watchers https://t.co/qtsIWdZrzT @wisgop @megellefsonshow @WICRs @DanODonnellShow @yount1130 @VickiMcKenna @MarkBellingShow #breakingnews #wisconsin https://t.co/qtsIWdZrzT

— Wisconsin Right Now (@wisconsin_now) November 4, 2024

The lawsuit puts forward some specific allegations, per The Hill:

The complaint alleges that Michael Hoffman, the RNC’s election integrity director in Wisconsin, questioned the commission’s executive director over email after learning some chief election inspectors — the people in charge of voting sites — were limiting observers.

“The Executive Director’s response was, ‘I am not able to provide a specific list of locations where we might need to limit observers to one person per party; however, it may occur anywhere the space, access, number of voters, and other prevailing circumstances would require it as a reasonable limitation,’” lawyers for the RNC wrote in the complaint.

At least five polling locations limited observers during in-person early voting, according to the complaint. The RNC claims that chief inspectors at the polling sites had no legal basis to limit the number of observers, asserting there is “ample space” for additional poll watchers to be present.

“When access is arbitrarily restricted to two persons, it opens the door to fraudulent claims of party affiliation so as to ‘freeze out’ one or the other major party,” the RNC lawyers wrote.

Here’s some additional coverage of the lawsuit: