Progressive groups have raised legal complaints to state agencies against a Republican tactic to run fake Democratic candidates in the primaries for Wisconsin’s multiple recall elections.

Last summer, the Republican Party of Wisconsin ran “fake” Democratic candidates in the primaries for state Senate recall elections.

On Tuesday, RPW spokesperson Ben Sparks said in a statement the party had filed nomination papers with the Government Accountability Board so a “protest candidate” could be running in each of the upcoming six recall elections.

Jeremy Levinson, an attorney representing the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, released a memo which states that since the current candidates are not actually Democrats, their candidacies are not valid.

“A candidate running in a Democratic primary for the purpose of disadvantaging that party and giving electoral advantage to the Republican Party and the Republican incumbent the Democrats seek to recall can do so only by falsifying his or her declaration of candidacy,” Levinson said in the memo.

A candidate must file the declaration of candidacy form in order to appear on the ballot, Levinson’s memo said. The form includes a section where the candidate must recognize that they will be representing the political party in the primary in which they are running.

Levinson’s memo said since this recognition is fraudulent, the candidates who are running to disadvantage one party in a primary are guilty of election law violations, as well as anybody who “knowingly participate[s]” in making these candidacies possible.

The memo also said these candidates bring constitutional implications aside from the previously mentioned criminal violations of the law.

Levinson said in the memo political parties have a right to determine their candidates, and legal authorities aim to protect against “partisan operatives’ false claims to represent a political party in an attempt to undermine that party and improperly advantage the other.”

GAB spokesperson Reid Magney said he expects Levinson to file a complaint regarding the issue by the Friday deadline, and that if filed, the board will review the complaint Tuesday morning. The candidates who are implicated in the complaint would then have until Monday to respond to the GAB about the concerns.

Sparks said the rationale behind running what he called “protest candidates” in the Democratic primaries was to make sure there is one primary date and one general election date for all of the candidates.

Sparks added the party helped only in circulating nomination papers for the candidates but will do nothing further to help their campaigns.

The progressive group One Wisconsin Now filed a complaint with the GAB and the district attorneys in the counties that last year’s fake Democrats were from, according to spokesperson Mike Browne.

Browne said his group is so far only focusing on last year’s elections, although they will continue to collect information about current potential violations.

Department of Justice spokesperson Dana Brueck said nothing so far suggests running the fake Democrats could be considered criminal, but DOJ will review the complaints it receives on this issue the same way it reviews others.

“The suggestion that a candidate must meet some type of political or ideological litmus test to run for public offices raises significant concerns,” Brueck said. “If voters conclude that a candidate is running for reasons they don’t support, they can express their view at the polls.”