AP:

A Republican member of the Wisconsin Elections Commission advised a Green Party representative about who to hire as an attorney after its presidential nominee was denied ballot access in the key battleground state, records obtained by The Associated Press show.

The elections commission deadlocked 3-3 Aug. 20 on whether to put Green Party presidential candidate Howie Hawkins on the ballot. All three Republicans were in favor, while all three Democrats were against. Hawkins asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court to put him on, but the court in a 4-3 ruling Monday rejected that request. The court also lifted an order it issued last week pausing the mailing of absentee ballots while it considered the challenge.

The email string obtained Monday by the AP under an open records request shows that elections commission member Bob Spindell emailed Kevin Zeese, then-press secretary for Hawkins, less than 24 hours after the commission voted to keep him off the ballot. Spindell, a Republican who supported putting Hawkins on the ballot, wrote that he was “very sorry. but not surprised, the three Democrat Commissioners fought hard to keep the Green Party off the Ballot.”

“The Democrat Party obviously believes this action would push your members to vote for Biden — if they could not vote for their own Green Party Candidates,” Spindell wrote.