Bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission unanimously chooses Democrat as chair for 2 years

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The same Democrat who led the Wisconsin Elections Commission during the contested 2020 presidential election will be back in the helm in the swing state this year after being unanimously elected Monday by the bipartisan panel.

Ann Jacobs was the only commission member nominated to serve as chair, reprising the role she had from 2020 to 2022. The unanimous vote included one from a Republican commissioner who attempted to cast Wisconsin’s electoral votes for Donald Trump in 2020 even though he lost the state.

The six-member commission administers and enforces Wisconsin election laws, but elections are run locally by more than 1,800 clerks in towns, villages, cities and counties. State law requires that the chair of the commission alternate between a Republican and a Democrat every two years.

Jacobs, in a post on X following her election as chair, said she recognizes Wisconsin’s “outsize role in this year’s presidential election” and said she was “confident in the work of our many clerks & Elections Comm. staff in making this our strongest election ever.”

Jacobs, in her role as chair, will approve the vote canvass following elections and certifies results, including the upcoming presidential election. The chair also sets the commission’s agenda and influences how questions are framed, a key power on a panel divided between both parties.

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