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Board to undergo ethics investigation

The State Elections Board will face an investigation into whether it violated Wisconsin's open meetings law when an attorney for Gov. Jim Doyle lobbied three Democratic board members.

The investigation was announced Friday by Deputy State Attorney General Daniel Bach.

The state Department of Justice is investigating e-mails sent to three of the nine board members from Michael Maistelman, an attorney hired by Doyle's re-election campaign. Maistelman encouraged the members to vote to order gubernatorial candidate U.S. Rep. Mark Green, R-Wis., to divest his campaign of $467,844 in out-of-state political action committee donations. The board ultimately decided to issue the order following a 5-2 vote, in which the lobbied members joined in favor of the order. Kyle Richmond, public information officer for the SEB, said nothing in state law prohibits the lobbying in question.

"The members of the Elections Board can ignore an e-mail, delete it, read it and respond, just read it, and take phone calls or not; it's up to them," he said. "They are subject to ethics law, but just buying someone's argument wouldn't be unethical."

But state Sen. Mike Ellis, R-Neenah, sent requests to Waukesha County District Attorney Paul Bucher and Dane County District Attorney Brian Blanchard to review whether Maistelman's e-mails, calls and a sit-down meeting with one board member violated state law.

Bucher has decided to investigate any violations in open meeting laws, ethics code and lobbying statutes, as the SEB vote occurred in Brookfield, a city in his county jurisdiction. Blanchard — whose jurisdiction includes Madison, where the SEB office is located — said he would not begin review. In a letter to Ellis, Blanchard said "it would surprise me if district attorneys had authority in this area."

Despite its legality, Mike McCabe — executive director of political watchdog group the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign — said he witnesses lobbying at every SEB meeting.

"There's not anyone who watches the SEB closer than I do, and there is heavy lobbying by both sides on issue after issue," he said. "It's not illegal, but it did provide some helpful insight into the political nature of the Elections Board."

And some, including McCabe, believe this latest development will rally support for election and ethics reform, particularly through Senate Bill 1. The bill, authored by Ellis, would merge the State Elections Board and Ethics Board into one nonpartisan citizen board.

"[The SEB] is a jury of politicians' pals appointed by the very people they are supposed to be watching over," McCabe said. "This whole affair is a vivid illustration why the Elections Board needs to be reformed and replaced by a politically independent board."

SB 1 passed the state Senate in a 28-5 bipartisan vote before being killed in the state Assembly last legislative session.

Though DOJ attorneys are representing the SEB in a lawsuit from Green's campaign, DOJ agents will continue to investigate if board members violated state laws. If board members were found in violation, the attorneys and investigators would not be allowed to have contact with one another.

It is still unclear if the issue will be resolved before the Nov. 7 general election.