GOP leaders subpoena city of Madison for election documents

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Republican leaders on Wednesday subpoenaed the city of Madison for absentee ballot certificates returned in the 2020 presidential race, as part of a GOP-led investigation into a nonpartisan audit of the Wisconsin election.

The report by the Joint Legislative Audit Bureau did not identify any widespread fraud that might have impacted the presidential election, which President Joe Biden won by about 21,000 votes. There’s no evidence, the Audit Bureau said, that the election was “stolen” from Donald Trump, as Trump and some fellow conservatives have falsely claimed.

The subpoena requests from Madison all physical absentee ballot certificates returned in the November election, as well as the results of tests conducted by the Madison City Clerk’s office on electronic voting equipment, the Wisconsin State Journal reports.

Madison City Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl told the Audit Bureau she would provide copies of ballots, absentee ballot envelopes and other election-related documents but would not supply the original documents.

Senate President Chris Kapenga, who signed the subpoena, said, “We are not playing games, and there will be consequences if they don’t comply.”

The request for the Madison documents was filed ahead of a hearing scheduled Wednesday by the state Assembly Committee on Campaigns and Elections to hear from former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman, who is leading the probe into the election.