Wisconsin Republicans allege anti-GOP bias in latest election challenge

Wisconsin Republicans have hit the state election commission with complaints alleging that officials in the state’s two largest cities illegally rejected Republican applicants for poll worker positions for the primary election.

The complaints, filed by the Milwaukee county Republican party and Dane county Republican party, claim officials in Milwaukee and Madison violated state law by not contacting eligible Republicans nominated by their party to work the polls. The move furthers the GOP strategy of questioning election processes in key battleground states.

“This is the kind of misconduct that drives down faith in elections,” the Republican National Committee (RNC) chairman, Michael Whatley, said in a statement on Wednesday. “The Republican Party is filing these complaints to compel election officials to follow the law and guarantee bipartisan access to important election administration positions in the Badger state.”

State law requires clerks to choose poll workers, also called election inspectors, from lists submitted by the Republican and Democratic parties. If there aren’t enough party-nominated applicants to staff the polls, municipalities turn to non-party-affiliated applicants.

Officials in Madison and Milwaukee have rejected the claim that they unfairly rejected Republican applicants.

In an email, the executive director of the Milwaukee election commission, Claire Woodall, said that her office “has remained in frequent contact with Republican leadership both at the state and local level regarding the status of all nominated inspectors”. Charles Hanna, who claims in the Milwaukee complaint that he was unfairly rejected, failed to complete a mandatory online application, Woodall said.

Woodall sent the Guardian a