Democrat Tapped to Lead Elections Agency Ahead of 2024 Race: ‘Wisconsin is ready’

WASHINGTON, D.C. — After navigating a contentious 2020 election as head of the agency that enforces Wisconsin’s election laws, Ann Jacobs is back at the helm just in time for 2024. 

Jacobs was unanimously reelected chair of the Wisconsin Elections Commission on Monday. She led the six-member commission during a particularly fraught time. Wisconsin was one of many states where Donald Trump alleged without evidence that widespread fraud was occurring in the 2020 election. Jacobs reported receiving online threats as the former president refused to acknowledge his loss.

“I think part of what was different in 2020, in addition to COVID,” Jacobs told Democracy Docket, “was that the level of antagonism and distrust of the electoral system was really new. There had been complaints in the past, but nothing that rose to the level of abject conspiracy [theories], anger and vitriol over completely fake things. I don’t think any of us were really prepared for those events.”

This time around, officials have an idea of what they’re up against. “We now understand, at least a little bit more, who the people are, who are making these accusations, the nature of the accusations … And I think that’s helpful because it helps us sort of ground how we talk about these elections,” Jacobs said.

Trump in particular has shown no signs of stopping his spread of falsehoods about the election being stolen from him in 2020. At an event in April, for example, Trump told a crowd, “You know we won this state. We won this state by a lot. It came out that we won this.” Trump lost the battleground state to Biden in 2020, and a Republican-led investigation in 2022 found no evidence of election fraud in the state.

Jacobs said she is “absolutely” concerned about disinformation potentially impacting the electoral process in Wisconsin. “Especially when voices that have a national megaphone decide to put forward those sorts of lies,” she said. “It’s very disruptive and it’s very disturbing.”

There’s no easy way to stop the flow of election disinformation, Jacobs acknowledged. “Because no matter what you show people about the truth, the cognitive dissonance of trying to undo [their] belief in a leader who’s telling them these fake things … I don’t know what we can do to fix that,” she said.

What election officials can do, Jacobs said, is address the majority of voters who understand there’s a system in place and want to observe or learn more about it. “Those are the people that I think are definitely reachable,” she said.

Meanwhile, on Wisconsin’s highest court, justices are weighing whether election officials can reinstate secure ballot drop boxes for the 2024 election, which could impact how elections are run in the swing state.

Jacobs noted the prohibition on drop boxes had the biggest impact on rural areas of the state, “which in Wisconsin also coincides with the redder areas,” she said, explaining that because Wisconsin’s elections are administered by municipalities, the staff in a small town or village might not have the same manpower as the city of Milwaukee.

“So drop boxes were a way for those voters to be able to safely and securely turn in their ballots,” she said.

Jacobs said Wisconsin will be well-positioned for voters to cast their ballots this fall. “I absolutely think Wisconsin is ready,” she said. “We’ve done some really good work to make our election processes better, to make them more transparent and to provide greater guidance and understanding to the people who are going to be a part of that system.”

Original post, June 11

A Democrat who led the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission in 2020 is stepping back into the role ahead of November.

Ann Jacobs was unanimously reelected chair of the Wisconsin Elections Commission on Monday. On the social media platform X, Jacobs said she was “honored” to be elected to lead the commission for another two-year term, after serving as chair from 2020 to 2022.

Jacobs acknowledged Wisconsin’s “outsize role” in this year’s presidential election and said she is confident in the state’s clerks and election staff. “It will be the strongest election ever,” she wrote.

The commission is tasked with overseeing the election process in the swing state, but does not run elections. According to The Associated Press, Jacobs was the only member nominated to lead the panel, and even received a vote from a Republican commissioner who tried to cast Wisconsin electoral votes for Donald Trump in 2020, despite the former president losing the battleground state to Joe Biden. 

Jacobs led the six-member commission during a particularly fraught time for Wisconsin’s elections. The state was among many targeted by Trump and his campaign during the 2020 election in a ploy to send fake electors to Congress to prevent the certification of Biden’s win. Prosecutors recently charged three Trump allies in connection with the scheme.

In December of 2020, Jacobs reported receiving threats as Trump refused to acknowledge his loss, telling the New York Times that people on Twitter (now known as X) “posted photographs of my house.”

Wisconsin was also one of many states where Trump alleged without evidence that widespread fraud was occurring — and he continues to spread those falsehoods as he campaigns for the 2024 race.

At an event in April, for example, Trump told a crowd, “You know we won this state. We won this state by a lot. It came out that we won this.” Trump lost Wisconsin to Biden in 2020, and a Republican-led investigation in 2022 found no evidence of election fraud in the state.

Also, on the state’s highest court, justices are weighing whether election officials can reinstate secure ballot drop boxes for the 2024 election, which could impact how elections are run in Wisconsin. And the court could potentially lose its liberal majority this year if a conservative challenger prevails in his bid to succeed retiring liberal Justice Ann Walsh Bradley.