Meagan Wolfe will continue as Wisconsin Elections Commission administrator after a unanimous Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling on Friday.
Wolfe’s term as elections commission administrator, the individual who supervises the WEC according to statute 15.61(b)1, ended in July of 2023, according to staff attorney with the State Democracy Research Initiative at the University of Wisconsin Law School Bryna Godar.
Every four years, the commission appoints an administrator and the decision is then voted on by the Senate, according to Godar. But at the end of Wolfe’s term, three Republican commissioners voted to reappoint her, while the other three Democrat commissioners withheld their vote, Godar said.
“By abstaining those democrats, [it] led to an outcome where Wolfe is actually to stay in her position instead of had they voted to reappoint her, then her nomination would have gone to the Senate, and it’s quite likely that the senate would have rejected her,” Godar said.
The failure to reappoint Wolfe allowed for her to continue to keep her position since an appointment was never made, leading to the Wisconsin State Senate attempting to fire her, Godar said.
The lawsuit began when the Wisconsin Supreme Court considered the case brought forward by the WEC against the Senate because of the Senate’s attempted firing in November 2024, according to an article by CBS.
The Supreme Court needed to determine whether or not the WEC is required to appoint a new administrator at the end of their term, Godar said.
The ruling of the Wisconsin Supreme Court on Friday is such that the WEC doesn’t have to appoint a new administrator, according to Godar.
Along with this interpretation on whether the election commission must appoint a new administrator, the Supreme Court also based its decision on a case from 2022, Godar said.
“Under the current state of the law, if there aren’t four Wisconsin elections commissioners who decide to act upon an appointment, whether hers or someone else’s, then it seems like she can probably stay in the role indefinitely,” Godar said.
Wolfe, overseeing two elections as the administrator of the WEC, said she was dedicated to making sure the 2024 presidential election was seen through and certified, even amid the court case, according to CBS.
