New Audit Highlights Flaws Of GAB’s Elections Work

A new audit shows Wisconsin’s elections agency, the Government Accountability Board, was sometimes slow to carry out its duties and didn’t always report to the state Legislature when it should have.

The non-partisan Legislative Audit Bureau found the GAB was years late in reviewing whether felons had voted in several elections. It also found the GAB never crafted several formal rules on subjects like poll workers — the kind of rules that are supposed to be reviewed by the Legislature.

State Sen. Bob Cowles, of Green Bay, co-chairs the audit committee, said that the audit’s findings highlight the work that lies ahead.

“There’s definitely serious work that the Legislature needs to do to ensure that our election laws are enforced in a fair and competent way,” Cowles said.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, who has been one of the GAB’s most outspoken critics, said this audit highlights the need to change the agency.

“I think the most important thing for us to remember is that the GAB made decisions not to follow the law,” Vos said.

GAB Director Kevin Kennedy said the audit was fair, but that some of the board’s decisions were driven by limited time when staff was more focused on overseeing several recall elections, some recounts and responding to several lawsuits.

“You know, we had 16 recall elections over a two-year period, a statewide recount, the implimentation of voter ID, redistricting and just a wave of lawsuits. And probably the biggest resource we need is time. And probably the biggest resource that we need is time,” Kennedy said.

He added it’s worth noting that the board oversaw several high-turnout elections during this time period, and they all went off without a hitch.