Forum will look at election inegrity, show off voting equipment

MENOMONIE — A forum will be held in Menomonie tonight to discuss election integrity in the Chippewa Valley and across Wisconsin.

Dunn County Clerk Andrew Mercil said the plan is to discuss the safety of absentee ballots, drop boxes, early voting, and have demonstrations of voting tabulators and Badger Book devices. He wants to address the “perpetual lies” he hears about rigged voting systems, he said.

“You have questions? Come ask them,” Mercil said Wednesday. “We want to restore confidence in our elections. We have safe and secure elections in Wisconsin.”

Speakers include Mercil (D), Eau Claire County Clerk Sue McDonald (D), Polk County Clerk Shabana Lundeen (R), and Spring Brook Town Clerk Mary Strand. Spring Brook is located southeast of Menomonie. Mercil noted he has worked with Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski, a Democrat, as well as former State Sen. and former Chippewa County Clerk Kathy Bernier, a Republican, as well.

“We wanted to get that cross representation, and on both county and local levels,” Mercil said. “It’s nice to have a unified front across both parties that believe in the integrity of elections.”

McDonald said she wanted to answer any questions the public has.

“We just want an understanding we are doing everything to make sure an election is accurate,” McDonald said. “It’s a very thorough process. It would be extremely difficult to cheat.”

Mercil said he wanted to show off the voting tabulators and Badger Book devices, as voters seem to have the most questions and concerns about those technologies.

“They think they are connected to the internet, or think they can be hacked,” Mercil said of the voting tabulators. “They throw seeds of doubt into the process.”

Mercil said they will run a stack of ballots through the machines and show the accuracy.

“It would take weeks to count all the ballots by hand,” he said.

McDonald echoed those thoughts.

“A hand count would be way less accurate, just with human error,” McDonald said.

In Dunn County, 91% of voters will use a Badger Book device this year, Mercil added.

“We use that to make people feel more confident about our elections,” he said.

McDonald said the city of Altoona and towns of Washington and Pleasant Valley are the only municipalities in Eau Claire County using Badger Books this year. The city of Eau Claire does not have them.

“It’s expensive; there are 20 polling places (in the city),” she said.

Mercil said he also wants people to understand the safety and security of drop boxes, which are allowed again this year after a recent state Supreme Court ruling. McDonald said the city of Eau Claire is considering one drop box outside of city hall, but most of the towns have shown little interest in using them.

“Most of them don’t want to deal with the controversy,” McDonald said.

They also will show off how absentee ballots are verified and any requirements needed to submit those.

The meeting tonight is in collaboration with the League of Women Voters. Mercil said he gave that organization a presentation earlier this year about the new Legislative maps, and that led to the idea to have this forum about election integrity. The meeting will be recorded and distributed as well.

The event will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in the Menomonie City Council meeting room, 800 Wilson Ave. McDonald said another forum is planned for Sept. 12 at the Eau Claire Public Library.