Kronenwetter Village Clerk Chose Personal Preference over Wisconsin Election Code

Kronenwetter residents need to be able to trust that the Village Elections are run properly and that the Village Records are accurate.

Requirement: The clerk submits the party lists to the governing body. and The municipal clerk should identify any election inspectors appointed by one of the two major political parties. From Election Administration Manual for Wisconsin Municipal Clerks – Page 118-119 (See References)

Village Clerk Birk-LaBarge’s Response – Page 3 of 3.1 Response (See References)

Comments: Please note that Clerk Birk-LaBarge’s response is effectively that she chose to do away with the political party system mandated by WI State Statute and the Election Administration Manual for Wisconsin Municipal Clerks.

Requirement: When party lists are received, election inspector appointments must be made from them. From Election Administration Manual for
Wisconsin Municipal Clerks – Page 115 (See References)

Village Clerk Birk-LaBarge’s Response – Page 2 of 3.1 Response (See References)

Comments: It is not clear which Statute Clerk Birk-LaBarge is referring to, but it appears that the “party imbalance” rule and the requirement to appoint from the party list first rule were both violated in at least one recent Kronenwetter election.

There were 19 Election Inspectors in total, so there should have been 10 Election Inspectors from the Republican list. By my count, there were only 8 and the list was certainly not depleted even if 3 individuals withdrew.