The Wisconsin Elections Commission voted June 19 to approve a new rule that addresses election observer conduct, according to a press release. The rule had been in discussion for two years prior to its 5-1 bipartisan approval.
Election observation rules are not updated very often in Wisconsin, and these new guidelines are mainly in response to election skeptics who are doubtful about the results of the 2020 election, University of Wisconsin political science professor Barry Burden said.
“It’s taken nearly five years to get a new set of rules to update and make clear some of the things that were bothering people in 2020,” Burden said.
The new rule defines restrictions on how close election observers may stand to voters, what documents they can view and it says they may not take photos, videos or audio recordings of any observable locations.
Republican Robert Spindell was the only member of the commission to vote against the new rule. Spindell was one of the fake Trump electors who participated in the scheme to override the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Spindell said he is concerned that since observers will no longer be allowed to take recordings, if a conflict were to happen, others would only know of it based on “one person’s word against another,” according to WisPolitics.
But, Burden said he does not think people need to be concerned about this new rule because there are often five to 10 poll workers and other voters present at all times.
“It won’t be one person’s word against another because there will be many people who are likely aware of any conflict that might be happening between an observer and a poll worker — and those things are documented at the time,” Burden said.
The new guidelines are likely to provide more uniformity to elections statewide, meaning election workers, observers and voters will better understand their duties and rights that may help increase citizens’ trust in elections, Burden said.
Still, Wisconsin polling places are among the most open in the country for election observers, Burden said. Observers do not need to be Wisconsin residents. Instead, they could be international visitors coming to the country just to observe elections and the only requirements are that they sign in, show identification and stay in their assigned area, he said.
Burden said he believes the new rule preserves the openness of Wisconsin elections and has a fair balance between the rights of election workers, observers and voters.
“I think the rules seem completely sensible,” Burden said. “… I think that’s reflected in the bipartisan vote that the commissioners had in favor of the rules.”
The new rule will go into effect Aug. 1.
