The Sconi

Since the 2020 elections, clerks and poll workers have come under scrutiny as calls for recounts with observers have grown and those recounts began. 

Some legislators have aimed to lessen the controversy – and in Wisconsin, legislators have sent a bill to Gov. Tony Evers’ desk that would allow observers to watch from a minimum of three feet away.

Senate Bill 210 will allow observers to examine ballot recounts from a minimum distance and creates a fine and potential jail time for elections workers who intentionally obstruct the view of observers, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Clerks who obstruct an observer’s view could face six months in jail.

The Wisconsin Elections Commission noted that there were 41 suspected cases of voter fraud between Aug. 22, 2020, and May 19. The commission identified potential matches between voters in Wisconsin and 29 other states, as well as Washington D.C. The commission said that those potential matches could have voted in Wisconsin and other states that were identified.

There were two reviews of the 2020 election launched by Wisconsin lawmakers, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

"The goal is to make sure at the end of the day that every single person has a chance to vote, but that we guarantee the confidence in the election, which has been severely undermined by the actions of a few over the course of the last election cycle (and which) hopefully are a thing of the past,”  Assembly Speaker Robin Vos told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

But, advocates for the disabled and elderly voters call these bills unfair, saying they make it harder for people to make sure their voices are heard.  

The Honest Elections Project reveals that more than half of registered voters want to increase voting safeguards that mitigate fraud, not decrease them. The breakdown of voter ethnicities included 51% of black voters and 66% of Hispanic voters polled.

Evers has indicated that he might veto the bill.