The Racine County sheriff is recommending charges against five state election officials because they told clerks to bypass state law during the coronavirus pandemic and send absentee ballots to nursing homes instead of first visiting in person.
Attorney General Josh Kaul blasted the move made by Sheriff Christopher Schmaling on Wednesday, calling it “a disgraceful publicity stunt” and “an abuse of authority.”
Schmaling said Wednesday in a news release he wants Commissioners Marge Bostelmann, Julie Glancey, Ann Jacobs, Dean Knudson and Mark Thomsen to be charged with five separate crimes related to the incident, including felony charges of misconduct in public office and election fraud and three misdemeanor counts of being a party to a crime.
Thomsen, Jacobs and Glancey are Democrats; Knudson and Bostelmann are Republicans.
Schmaling is not recommending charges against staff of the Ridgewood Care Center or the local election clerks who oversaw absentee voting at the nursing home, which the sheriff alleges was handled improperly for eight voters.
The announcement came a day after Democratic Gov. Tony Evers said Racine County officials should charge a nursing home worker or local clerk if they believe election laws were broken at the facility but said he sees no reason to assume voting problems occurred at other nursing homes.