Ann Jacobs Profile picture
Chair of Wisconsin Elections Commission & I have opinions on election things, Personal Injury Attorney & I have law opinions, Posts are my own & I enjoy them.
Apr 25 18 tweets 4 min read
Let's discuss the *actual* charges against Judge Hannah Dugan using the Complaint against her.
tl;dr - she sent the man in question into the public hallway where agents there to arrest him watched him walk by and did nothing. 1/
storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco… ¶12 - They had a 6-member task force including one ICE, one CBP, 2 FBI and 2 DEA agents. Whew!
¶10 - because of courthouse security, they knew he would be unarmed.
6 people for one unarmed guy. OK. 2/
Mar 29 10 tweets 2 min read
Why do so many people feel like late-night ballot totals are new (when they are not)? Answer: It has everything to do with the difference between “calling” an election, and having complete totals in. A thread: 1/10 When the margins in a race are very large (1 side is winning by a lot) the press calls the race even though all ballots aren’t accounted for. This frequently happens in states that are ‘red’ or ‘blue.’ For example CA gets called even though it takes them a long time to count.2/10
Mar 25 8 tweets 1 min read
A quick Wisconsin review of Trump’s new executive order:
tl;dr – This does *not* change anything for our upcoming election for Supreme Court on April 1. Here’s why: 1/7 1-State elections are governed by state law, not federal law. The WI Supreme CT race is a state race only (there are no federal elections at all on April 1), so any federal demands do not and cannot affect this race. 2/7
Jan 3 6 tweets 2 min read
Wisconsin voting: A brief update on the 193 City of Madison absentee ballots that were not counted. The WI Elections Commission (WEC) did not learn about these ballots until 12/18/24, long after the election had been certified (on 11/29/24). 1/6 12/19/24, WEC staff asked for a call with the Madison Clerk and City Atty., which occurred on 12/20. WEC asked the clerk for details on how this happened, and a statement was provided by her on 12/23. That statement gave some information, but left many outstanding questions. 2/6
Nov 5, 2024 4 tweets 1 min read
Important update on Wisconsin: Milwaukee Central Count hit a snafu today. The tabulator machines have doors that are supposed to be locked and sealed before tabulation. Sadly, that did not occur this morning. Both political parties agree that nothing was wrong with the 1/ Tabulation so far. However, in the interest of transparency and so that people can have confidence in the tabulation, the decision was made to re-tabulate the ballots run through so far. That’s about 34,000 ballots give or take. So the machines are being zeroed out, and 2/
Nov 4, 2024 6 tweets 2 min read
A brief primer on Election Day registration in Wisconsin! To register on ED, you need 2 pieces of information. 1st a photo ID to prove who you are & 2nd proof of residence (where you live). Let's dig in a little bit! 1/ The best source for what Photo ID is permissible is ! For most, but not all voters, it will be their WI Driver's license or ID. Students can use their student ID provided it has an expiration date (or, if expired, they have proof of enrollment). 2/bringit.wi.gov
Oct 25, 2024 4 tweets 1 min read
Friday afternoon Wisconsin election update: Friday was a great day for printing labels! We have continued our refreshing of the system and we have not had reports of label printing problems. We know many of you waited in long lines to vote & appreciate your patience!! 1/ We have been reviewing our systems closely and we are not seeing any other problems in our election administration system. This was not a cyberattack. This was an unfortunate printing problem that may have been exacerbated by the amazing volume of voters. 2/
Oct 16, 2024 12 tweets 3 min read
Wisconsin: A thread about challenges to voters at the polls. tl;dr - no, you can't just show up and challenge anyone you want to for any reason or conspiracy theory du jour. Let's dive in! 1/
See WEC memo on the topic here: elections.wi.gov/elector-challe… First - who can challenge? Only an ELECTOR - over the age of 18, US citizen, resident of Wisconsin (that's a big one) and eligible to vote in Wisconsin. So out-of-state people/observers cannot challenge Wisconsin voters. 2/
Sep 14, 2024 13 tweets 3 min read
From your favorite Wisconsin Elections Commissioner: A thread about the difference between *calling* an election and *result reporting* on Election Day. And why it’s important not to confuse the two! With an emphasis on Wisconsin. 1/ What you see on Election Day are *unofficial* results. In Wisconsin, they are sent from the poll sites to the 1,850 clerks, who report those unofficial totals. Those unofficial totals are then used by the media to create the running tallies you see on the news! 2/
Jul 6, 2024 6 tweets 2 min read
Why are drop boxes often superior to the mail for absentee ballot return? A thread on Wisconsin’s recent decision to allow clerks to return to their decades-long use of drop boxes for the return of absentee ballots. Image First: Your ballot goes directly from you to your clerk! Ballots are retrieved by election workers (or the clerk themselves) and taken directly to the clerk’s office. From your hands to election officials’ hands!
Dec 23, 2023 9 tweets 2 min read
A🧵to try to explain the pending deadlines in the Wisconsin Maps case, and why they are so short, and why that timeline is so important! I will be relying on the court’s scheduling order (which is separate from the opinion) which you can find here (1/8): acefiling.wicourts.gov/document/eFile… Here is the general outline of the timing (I’m leaving out a lot of detail):
12/26/23: Experts tell parties the info the parties need to provide
12/30/23: Parties to stipulate as to the data they are going to use or explain why they can’t (2/8)
Nov 3, 2023 6 tweets 2 min read
The articles of impeachment filed against WEC administrator Meagan Wolfe are a hodgepodge of conspiracy theories, delusions, lies, and have been debunked multiple times. Yet the republican legislature is going to pretend that this is a serious thing. It’s not. 1/ First, read this article by MJS debunking all the claims. @TylerKatzen did a very good job going through the claims one-by-one. 2/
jsonline.com/story/news/pol…
Jun 28, 2023 16 tweets 3 min read
A 🧵about the realities of the Wisconsin Election Commission's (WEC) administrator Meagan Wolfe remaining in her rightful position. Law & citations ahead!!
(I will cite to relevant parts but you can always look up the statutes/cases in full). (it's kind of long). 1/ The appointment of the WEC admin is governed by 15.61(1)(b)1.
"If a vacancy occurs in the administrator position, the commission shall appoint a new administrator, and submit the appointment for senate confirmation, no later than 45 days after the date of the vacancy." 2/
Oct 25, 2022 11 tweets 2 min read
Why you should be skeptical about "Election Uniformity" and ballot questions about it. A 🧵. 1/11 Waukesha WI put this advisory referendum on the ballot: “Should the Wisc. Legislature prepare and place on the statewide ballot a Constitutional Amendment requiring that election administration, access to ballots, and counting of ballots be nearly uniform as practicable?” 2/11
Jul 25, 2022 14 tweets 2 min read
Decertification is the wish of a losing party cloaked in the language of the constitution while violating every principle of our constitution and our nation. A thread: You cannot decertify an election - people who claim otherwise are ridiculous & simply making things up. 1/
Aug 10, 2021 5 tweets 2 min read
I want to spend a moment talking about Voting machines. There appears to be people who think you can just somehow open them up & learn how they work. Or download some software & see how it all works. 1/ At page 43 of the link, you will see the work that the amazing Wisconsin Election Commission staff do to evaluate and consider approval of voting equipment. 2/ elections.wi.gov/sites/election…