Associated Press: Voting experts to guide new Wisconsin poll watcher rules

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A panel of voting experts and political party appointees will help the Wisconsin Election Commission rework its rules for poll watchers ahead of the 2024 presidential race, the commission said Thursday.

Poll watchers, called election observers in Wisconsin, have complained that existing rules on how they can monitor voting sites are unclear and applied inconsistently across the state. Wisconsin has one of the most decentralized election systems in the nation, with more than 1,800 municipal clerks who count votes.

The new advisory committee will include voting rights advocates, poll watchers, municipal clerks and political party representatives. The panel will offer perspectives on how to balance the needs of election workers and poll watchers before the commission drafts new guidelines. The bipartisan election commission voted unanimously to establish the committee. …

“Election workers need to know they are supported by a clear set of rules and will not have to endure the threat of intimidation or attack by observers who do not follow those rules,” Jay Heck, executive director of watchdog group Common Cause Wisconsin, said in a statement sent to the commission.

Commissioners asked Common Cause Wisconsin to appoint a member to the new committee, as well as voting advocacy groups including Souls to the Polls, Forward Latino and the Wisconsin Election Integrity Network. As the four parties with ballot access in Wisconsin, the Democratic, Republican, Constitutional and Libertarian Parties were each also asked to appoint a member.