Trump Campaign Statement on Wisconsin Lawsuit
Today President Donald J. Trump filed a lawsuit against the Wisconsin Elections Commission, et. al. in his personal capacity as a candidate for re-election to the office of President of the United States. The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, Milwaukee Division.
The complaint is based on the unlawful and unconstitutional acts by Wisconsin public officials, including the Wisconsin Elections Commission, the Mayors of Milwaukee, Madison, Kenosha, Green Bay, and Racine, and other election officials.
The suit seeks relief under the Electors Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which requires that public officials follow State Election Law when conducting a presidential election in their state. The lawsuits asks the U.S. District Court to find constitutional violations by defendants and send the matter to the Wisconsin Legislature for appropriate relief under Article II, Section 1.2. The U.S. Constitution makes the state legislature the final decision-makers on how to address constitutional violations involving a presidential election, and textually grants them the authority to select delegates to the Electoral College.
Specifically, the lawsuit alleges the following key unlawful acts:
Directives by the Wisconsin Elections Commission undercutting Wisconsin’s Photo Identification Law.
A Plan by the Mayors of Wisconsin’s five largest cities (Milwaukee, Madison, Kenosha, Green Bay and Racine) and funded by an out-of-state organization known as the Center for Tech & Civic Life to implement a new form of balloting in Wisconsin using un-manned, absentee ballot drop boxes without adequate or uniform chain of custody standards and security protocols contrary to the Wisconsin Election Code.
Directives by the Wisconsin Elections Commission that facilitated the unlawful, un-manned absentee ballot drop box Plan by endorsing illegal drop boxes (which were then ultimately used throughout the State in the election), failing to adopt uniform chain of custody and security protocols for the ballots in the drop boxes and failing to ensure public access to the process.
Directives by the Wisconsin Elections Commission to election officials to tamper with witness certifications on absentee ballot envelopes which facilitated the counting of unlawful ballots in the election in violation of the Wisconsin Election Code.
“The United States Constitution prevents the rules in a Presidential Election from being changed at the last minute by un-elected bureaucrats and local politicians who may have a more narrow interest in the outcome of the election. We have alleged in our Complaint on behalf of the President that the Wisconsin Elections Commission and other state and local officials in Wisconsin broke the Wisconsin Election Code and ran an unconstitutional and unlawful election. Nothing is more important to our national fabric and future than integrity in our electoral process. This lawsuit is one-step in the direction of fairer, more transparent, more professional and ultimately more reliable elections in America.” Bill Bock, lead counsel in the Wisconsin federal suit for Donald J. Trump.
“Today’s federal lawsuit in Wisconsin reveals an apparently coordinated effort to push a new form of balloting upon Wisconsin voters that was not protected by uniform chain of custody and security standards and protocols. Regrettably, this is the same sort of conduct we have seen across many battleground states that Democrats knew they had to win to defeat the President where the rules of the election were changed at the last minute and guardrails against fraud were simultaneously lowered.
We hope that the State Legislatures in every affected State will take up this battle to protect the voters in their State. This is a solemn responsibility the Constitution entrusts directly to State Legislatures. The time for full scale investigations and resolve to uphold the Constitution is now, and President Trump is committed to fighting corruption and ensuring free and fair elections today and into the future for every American.” Jenna Ellis, Senior Legal Adviser for Trump 2020 Campaign and Attorney to President Trump.
