Racine Sun

Racine County Sheriff Christopher Schmaling is among those pushing to see legal action taken against as many as six members of the Wisconsin Elections Committee after they voted not to send Special Voting Deputies to aide nursing home residents with voting in the 2020 election.

"I was always against the policy that the election commission came up with of not allowing special voting deputies,” Wisconsin Election Committee member Bob Spindell told TMJ4.com. “There's a good reason why special voting deputies should be used for nursing homes, assisted living and so forth, so no fraud can take place."

According to the Racine County Sheriff Department, the lapse amounts to a violation of state law, with Schmaling charging the situation is only made worse by employees at the Ridgewood Care Center admitting that they helped residents fill out their ballots, which is illegal in Wisconsin.

Racine County Sheriff officials first launched their probe nearly a year ago when a woman named Judy alleged that her deceased mother’s vote counted in the election. Sergeant Michael Luell added the woman told investigators that her mother resided at the Ridgewood Care Center and she didn’t have the mental capacity to vote absentee in the months leading up to her death last October.

"Judy was concerned and reached out to the Ridgewood Care facility to ask ‘How could my mother have voted?' and she was informed by the executive director that the Wisconsin Elections Commission authorized the employees of these facilities to execute the vote, which, by the way, is a direct violation of law,” Luell said.

In Wisconsin, special voting deputies are trained to go into nursing homes and assisted living centers to assist residents and collect their absentee ballots. But in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Wisconsin six-member Elections Commission voted last year to put the program on pause, with conservative member Spindell being the only one casting a vote in favor of keeping the program in place for last year’s elections.

While the Wisconsin Department of Justice insists that all credible allegations of fraud will be thoroughly investigated, the Democratic Party of Wisconsin has already dismissed the entire episode as nothing more than a political stunt.

"The Racine County Sheriff's Department has been wasting taxpayer money in an attempt to rehash discredited claims about the 2020 election results,” the Democratic Party of Wisconsin said. “There weren't any charges filed or even any suggested."