Coverage of Michael Gableman and the 2020 elections investigation
Updated
Read past coverage about Michael Gableman and the GOP-ordered investigation into the 2020 election.
Michael Gableman will get $44K to lead GOP's presidential election investigation
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos plans to pay former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman $44,000 to lead a probe of 2020 presidential election results in Wisconsin.
Vos announced in May that he plans to hire three retired police officers to review the election. He announced at the state Republican convention on June 26 that Gableman will oversee the investigation. The Assembly chief clerk’s office on Friday released a contract between Gableman and Vos that calls for paying Gableman $11,000 in taxpayer dollars every month between July and October.
Gableman asks court again to jail mayors if they don't comply with newest petition
After stating last month he’s not trying to jail mayors, the Republican-appointed investigator tasked with reviewing Wisconsin’s 2020 election filed another petition Friday that would do just that to the mayors of Madison and Green Bay — and now a list of city and election staff — if they don’t comply with a lengthy list of demands.
Conservative former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman on Friday filed yet another petition in Waukesha County Circuit Court against the two mayors, this time adding Racine Mayor Cory Mason, the city clerks from Madison and Green Bay, staff from the Wisconsin Elections Commission and city of Milwaukee employees.
The state has multiple, overlapping safeguards aimed at preventing ineligible voters from casting ballots, tampering with the ballots or altering vote totals.
"Despite concerns with statewide elections procedures, this audit showed us that the election was largely safe and secure," Sen. Rob Cowles said Friday.
The memo states that state law gives the Audit Bureau complete access to all records during an audit investigation and federal law and guidance does not prohibit an election official from handing over election records.
Thousands of ballot certifications examined from Madison are a window onto how elections officials handled a pandemic and a divided and unhelpful state government.
"I don't think that you instill confidence in a process by kind of blindly assuming there's nothing to see here," WILL president and general counsel Rick Esenberg said.
The clear insinuation was that someone not qualified to conduct an election improperly influenced these vulnerable voters. But the Wisconsin State Journal could not confirm the data.
The clear insinuation was that someone not qualified to conduct an election improperly influenced these vulnerable voters. But the Wisconsin State Journal could not confirm the data.
The turnout at nursing homes in Brown, Kenosha, Milwaukee and Racine counties in 2020 was not much different from the turnout in 2016.
Watch now: Michael Gableman presents findings of 2020 election review
Gableman report suggests 2020 election can be decertified, calls for dismantling elections commission
Claiming some nursing home residents cast ballots without knowing what they were doing, and repeating complaints about grants from a liberal organization to help administer the 2020 election, the former state Supreme Court justice leading a GOP review of the 2020 election said Tuesday the Legislature “ought to take a very hard look” at decertifying the state’s presidential election — something experts say is a legal and constitutional impossibility.
In a sweeping critique of current election rules, Michael Gableman also called for the “elimination and dismantling” of the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission after it instructed clerks in 2020 that they did not need to send poll workers into nursing homes to assist with absentee voting after many were turned away due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A small percentage of voters and witnesses made mistakes on their absentee ballot certificates in 2020. Here are some examples of the kinds of errors that were either allowed or corrected by the clerk in order to permit the ballot to be counted.
In a world where partisan divides are deep & seemingly anything can be justified as long as it results in retaining power, handing authority to partisan politicians to determine if election fraud exists would be the end of our republic as we know it. 3/
Attorney Erick Kaardal asks a nursing home resident who voted absentee in November 2020 about the election in this video played for the Assembly elections committee. The video suggested the resident must have had help filling out her ballot.
The state has multiple, overlapping safeguards aimed at preventing ineligible voters from casting ballots, tampering with the ballots or altering vote totals.
"Despite concerns with statewide elections procedures, this audit showed us that the election was largely safe and secure," Sen. Rob Cowles said Friday.
The memo states that state law gives the Audit Bureau complete access to all records during an audit investigation and federal law and guidance does not prohibit an election official from handing over election records.
Thousands of ballot certifications examined from Madison are a window onto how elections officials handled a pandemic and a divided and unhelpful state government.
"I don't think that you instill confidence in a process by kind of blindly assuming there's nothing to see here," WILL president and general counsel Rick Esenberg said.
The clear insinuation was that someone not qualified to conduct an election improperly influenced these vulnerable voters. But the Wisconsin State Journal could not confirm the data.
The clear insinuation was that someone not qualified to conduct an election improperly influenced these vulnerable voters. But the Wisconsin State Journal could not confirm the data.
Here are 26 ways Michael Gableman is seeking to change Wisconsin's election laws
In a report released Tuesday, former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman makes 26 recommendations for changing state election laws. They are broken down into four categories:
Michael Gableman's numbers on nursing home voting proven wrong again
Residents of nursing homes in five Wisconsin counties did not vote in unusually high numbers in the last presidential election — contrary to what the leader of a partisan review of the election has asserted.
Nor was voter turnout significantly different from turnout in the 2016 election at nursing homes in four of the counties for which the Wisconsin State Journal obtained voting data.
Number of ballots cast compared to number of registered voters at nursing homes in Brown, Dane, Kenosha, Milwaukee and Racine counties in 2020.
County
Facility
Ballots cast
Registered voters
Percent
Brown
Anna John Resident Centered Care Community, 2901 S. Overland Road, Oneida
10
15
67%
Brown
Brown County Community Treatment Center - Bayshore Village, 3150 Gershwin Drive, Green Bay
8
8
100%
Brown
Crossroads Care Center of West Green Bay, 1760 Shawano Ave., Green Bay
10
11
91%
Brown
Edenbrook of Green Bay, 2961 St. Anthony Drive, Green Bay
7
8
88%
Brown
Grancare Nursing Center, 1555 Dousman St., Green Bay
12
15
80%
Brown
Green Bay Health Services, 1640 Shawano Ave., Green Bay
9
12
75%
Brown
Odd Fellow Home, 1229 S. Jackson St., Green Bay
15
16
94%
Brown
Rennes Health and Rehab Center - De Pere, 200 S. Ninth St., De Pere
10
19
53%
Brown
Woodside Lutheran Home, 1040 Pilgrim Way, Green Bay
16
18
89%
Dane
Badger Prairie Health Care Center, 1100 E. Verona Ave., town of Verona
32
39
82%
Dane
Capital Lakes Health Center, 333 W. Main St., Madison
82
90
91%
Dane
Crossroads Care Center of Sun Prairie, 41 Rickel Road, Sun Prairie
5
12
42%
Dane
Four Winds Manor, 303 S. Jefferson St., city of Verona
13
22
59%
Dane
Grace Healthcare of Oregon, 354 N. Main St., Oregon
10
17
59%
Dane
Heartland Country Village, 634 Center St., Black Earth
7
11
64%
Dane
Ingleside Manor, 407 N. Eighth St., Mount Horeb
16
32
50%
Dane
Nazareth Health and Rehab Center, 814 Jackson St., Stoughton
12
12
100%
Dane
Oak Park Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, 718 Jupiter Drive, Madison
10
15
67%
Dane
Oak Park Place of Nakoma, 4327 Nakoma Road, Madison
14
16
88%
Dane
Oakwood Lutheran Homes Association, 6201 Mineral Point Road, Madison
14
19
74%
Dane
Oakwood Village East Health and Rehabilitation Center, Madison
2
3
67%
Dane
Skaalen Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, 400 N. Morris, Stoughton
41
49
84%
Dane
SSM Health St. Mary's Care Center, 3401 Maple Grove Drive, Madison
51
64
80%
Dane
Sun Prairie Health Care Center, 228 W. Main St., Sun Prairie
17
25
68%
Dane
The Bay at Belmont Health and Rehabilitation Center, 110 Belmont Road, Madison
24
31
77%
Dane
The Villa at Middleton Village, 6201 Elmwood Ave., Middleton
8
15
53%
Dane
Waunakee Manor Health Care Center, 801 S. Klein Dr., Waunakee
26
30
87%
Kenosha
Brookside Care Center, 3506 Washington Road, Kenosha
30
37
81%
Kenosha
Clairidge House, 1519 60th St., Kenosha
15
20
75%
Kenosha
Crossroads Care Center of Kenosha, 8633 32nd St., Kenosha
22
26
85%
Kenosha
Grande Prairie Health and Rehabilitation Center, 10330 Prairie Ridge Blvd., Pleasant Prairie
34
48
71%
Kenosha
Kenosha Estates Rehab and Care Center, 1703 60th St., Kenosha
4
10
40%
Kenosha
The Bay at Sheridan Health and Rehabilitation, 8400 Sheridan Road, Kenosha
4
12
33%
Kenosha
The Bay at Waters Edge Health and Rehabilitation, 3415 N. Sheridan Road, Kenosha
16
17
94%
Kenosha
The Manor of Kenosha, 3100 Washington Road, Kenosha
36
53
68%
Milwaukee
Allis Care Center, 9047 W. Greenfield Ave., West Allis
37
40
93%
Milwaukee
Aria at Mitchell Manor, 5301 W. Lincoln Ave., West Allis
33
36
92%
Milwaukee
Ascension Living Alexian Village Milwaukee, 9255 N. 76th St., Milwaukee
24
26
92%
Milwaukee
Autumn Lake Healthcare at Greenfield, 5790 S. 27th St., Milwaukee
17
21
81%
Milwaukee
Bedrock HCS at Glendale, 1300 W. Silver Spring Drive, Glendale
47
55
85%
Milwaukee
Bria of Trinity Village, 7500 W. Dean Road, Milwaukee
12
22
55%
Milwaukee
Chi Franciscan Villa, 3601 S. Chicago Ave., South Milwaukee
26
34
76%
Milwaukee
Clement Manor Health Care Center, 3939 S. 92nd St., Greenfield*
11
14
79%
Milwaukee
Crossroads Care Center of Milwaukee, 3216 W. Highland Blvd., Milwaukee
6
16
38%
Milwaukee
Eastcastle Place Bradford Terrace Convalescent Center, 2505 E. Bradford Ave., Milwaukee
90
102
88%
Milwaukee
Edenbrook Lakeside, 2115 E. Woodstock Place, Milwaukee
18
21
86%
Milwaukee
Glendale Care and Rehab Center LLC, 6263 N. Green Bay Ave., Glendale
1
5
20%
Milwaukee
Hales Corners Care Center, 9449 W. Forest Home Ave, Hales Corners
13
15
87%
Milwaukee
Jewish Home and Care Center, 1414 N. Prospect Ave., Milwaukee
19
24
79%
Milwaukee
Luther Manor, 4545 N. 92nd St., Milwaukee*
12
17
71%
Milwaukee
Lutheran Home, 7500 W. North Ave., Wauwatosa
72
89
81%
Milwaukee
Maple Ridge Health Services, 2730 W. Ramsey Ave., Milwaukee
15
18
83%
Milwaukee
Maplewood Center, 8615 W. Beloit Road, West Allis
22
34
65%
Milwaukee
Mercy Health Services, 2727 W. Mitchell St., Milwaukee
3
6
50%
Milwaukee
Milwaukee Catholic Home, 2330 N. Prospect Ave., Milwaukee*
41
54
76%
Milwaukee
Saint John's on the Lake, 1858 N. Prospect Ave., Milwaukee*
109
124
88%
Milwaukee
Southpointe Healthcare Center, 4500 W. Loomis Road, Greenfield
26
29
90%
Milwaukee
St. Anne's Salvatorian Campus, 3800 N. 92nd St., Milwaukee
53
75
71%
Milwaukee
St. Camillus Health Center, 10101 W. Wisconsin Ave., Wauwatosa
59
76
78%
Milwaukee
Sunrise Health Services, 3540 S. 43rd St., Milwaukee
3
7
43%
Milwaukee
The Bay at St. Ann Health and Rehabilitation Center, 2020 S. Muskego Road, Milwaukee
13
17
76%
Milwaukee
The Villa at Bradley Estates, 6735 W. Bradley Road, Milwaukee
68
92
74%
Milwaukee
Wheaton Franciscan HC - Terrace at St. Francis, 3200 S. 20th St., Milwaukee
4
6
67%
Milwaukee
Willowcrest Health Services, 3821 S. Chicago Ave., South Milwaukee
35
41
85%
Racine
Lakeshore at Siena, 5643 Erie St., Racine
16
20
80%
Racine
Oak Ridge Care Center, 1400 8th Ave., Union Grove
11
13
85%
Racine
Ridgewood Care Center, 3205 Wood Road, Racine
42
53
79%
Racine
The Bay at Burlington Health and Rehabilitation, 677 E. State St., Burlington
2
10
20%
Racine
The Villa at Lincoln Park, 1700 C A Becker Drive, Racine
14
23
61%
Racine
Wisconsin Veterans Home - Boland Hall, 21425 E. Spring St., Union Grove
61
81
75%
* Includes assisted living
Source: Wisconsin State Journal research
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'Weird nose ring ... loves nature': Michael Gableman memo characterizes election workers as Democrats
New documents posted online by Michael Gableman underscore efforts by the former state Supreme Court justice to gather information on the partisan leanings of public election employees as part of his GOP-ordered review of the 2020 election, including details on a Milwaukee staffer he determined to be “probably a Democrat” because she has a nose piercing and sometimes colors her hair.
The memo, titled “cross pollinators” and posted on the Office of Special Counsel website Thursday, lists details about a Milwaukee geographic information system analyst, including that she “has a weird nose ring,” has colored hair in some of her photos, “loves nature and snakes,” plays video games and lives with a boyfriend but is not married to him. The unsigned memo also notes that the employee has “no overt signs of rampant partisanship.”
A small percentage of voters and witnesses made mistakes on their absentee ballot certificates in 2020. Here are some examples of the kinds of errors that were either allowed or corrected by the clerk in order to permit the ballot to be counted.
Gableman documents show coordination with outside nonprofits, pushback from elections chief
Documents unveiled last week in the Republican investigation of the November 2020 election show election officials from Milwaukee and other Democratic-leaning Wisconsin cities working closely on election administration matters with various outside election-related interest groups — some with clear Democratic leanings or past connections.
But there doesn’t appear to be evidence that the coordination gave interest groups access to confidential voter information or otherwise broke state law. In fact, at one point in 11 months’ worth of email correspondence, Milwaukee’s elections chief rebuffs an attempt by one outside group to get closer to state elections records than she felt was appropriate.
The state has multiple, overlapping safeguards aimed at preventing ineligible voters from casting ballots, tampering with the ballots or altering vote totals.
"Despite concerns with statewide elections procedures, this audit showed us that the election was largely safe and secure," Sen. Rob Cowles said Friday.
The memo states that state law gives the Audit Bureau complete access to all records during an audit investigation and federal law and guidance does not prohibit an election official from handing over election records.
Thousands of ballot certifications examined from Madison are a window onto how elections officials handled a pandemic and a divided and unhelpful state government.
"I don't think that you instill confidence in a process by kind of blindly assuming there's nothing to see here," WILL president and general counsel Rick Esenberg said.
The clear insinuation was that someone not qualified to conduct an election improperly influenced these vulnerable voters. But the Wisconsin State Journal could not confirm the data.
The clear insinuation was that someone not qualified to conduct an election improperly influenced these vulnerable voters. But the Wisconsin State Journal could not confirm the data.
The turnout at nursing homes in Brown, Kenosha, Milwaukee and Racine counties in 2020 was not much different from the turnout in 2016.
Michael Gableman's election investigation paused, pay cut in half amid legal fights
An investigation into the 2020 election in battleground Wisconsin will be paused while five lawsuits play out, and the salary for the former state Supreme Court justice leading it will be cut in half, the Assembly speaker said Wednesday.
However, the investigation could be revived if courts rule that elections officials and others must comply with the subpoenas issued by Michael Gableman, said Robin Vos, Wisconsin's top state Republican lawmaker, who hired Gableman using taxpayer money.
The state has multiple, overlapping safeguards aimed at preventing ineligible voters from casting ballots, tampering with the ballots or altering vote totals.
"Despite concerns with statewide elections procedures, this audit showed us that the election was largely safe and secure," Sen. Rob Cowles said Friday.
The memo states that state law gives the Audit Bureau complete access to all records during an audit investigation and federal law and guidance does not prohibit an election official from handing over election records.
Thousands of ballot certifications examined from Madison are a window onto how elections officials handled a pandemic and a divided and unhelpful state government.
"I don't think that you instill confidence in a process by kind of blindly assuming there's nothing to see here," WILL president and general counsel Rick Esenberg said.
The clear insinuation was that someone not qualified to conduct an election improperly influenced these vulnerable voters. But the Wisconsin State Journal could not confirm the data.
The clear insinuation was that someone not qualified to conduct an election improperly influenced these vulnerable voters. But the Wisconsin State Journal could not confirm the data.
The turnout at nursing homes in Brown, Kenosha, Milwaukee and Racine counties in 2020 was not much different from the turnout in 2016.
Michael Gableman appeals contempt order after scathing rebuke from Dane County judge
The former state Supreme Court Justice leading the GOP-ordered review into Wisconsin’s 2020 election has appealed a Dane County judge’s decision to hold him in contempt after a heated courtroom appearance.
Dane County Circuit Judge Frank Remington last week held the Office of Special Counsel headed by Michael Gableman in contempt, offering a scathing rebuke of the former justice’s behavior in court earlier this month, when Gableman accused the judge of being a partisan “advocate.”
Michael Gableman deleted records, worked at public library, in early months of election review
Gableman
KAYLA WOLF, STATE JOURNAL
Michael Gableman spent the first two months of his review of the 2020 election using a now-deleted personal email account and working out of a public library, and regularly discarded records even after requests for documents from his office had been submitted under the state's open records law, the former state Supreme Court justice testified Thursday.
Gableman, who provided roughly 90 minutes of testimony, said he spent most of July and August last year getting familiar with Wisconsin elections and attending a pair of meetings, including one hosted by MyPillow CEO and election denier Mike Lindell. Gableman said he tested positive for COVID-19 shortly after the August meeting in South Dakota.
At one point during Thursday's proceedings, Dane County Circuit Judge Valerie Bailey-Rihn handed her reading glasses to Michael Gableman to assist him in answering questions regarding his review of the 2020 election.
The state has multiple, overlapping safeguards aimed at preventing ineligible voters from casting ballots, tampering with the ballots or altering vote totals.
"Despite concerns with statewide elections procedures, this audit showed us that the election was largely safe and secure," Sen. Rob Cowles said Friday.
The memo states that state law gives the Audit Bureau complete access to all records during an audit investigation and federal law and guidance does not prohibit an election official from handing over election records.
Thousands of ballot certifications examined from Madison are a window onto how elections officials handled a pandemic and a divided and unhelpful state government.
"I don't think that you instill confidence in a process by kind of blindly assuming there's nothing to see here," WILL president and general counsel Rick Esenberg said.
The clear insinuation was that someone not qualified to conduct an election improperly influenced these vulnerable voters. But the Wisconsin State Journal could not confirm the data.
The clear insinuation was that someone not qualified to conduct an election improperly influenced these vulnerable voters. But the Wisconsin State Journal could not confirm the data.
The turnout at nursing homes in Brown, Kenosha, Milwaukee and Racine counties in 2020 was not much different from the turnout in 2016.
Complaint filed against Michael Gableman cites comments on decertifying 2020 election
Michael Gableman faces a second challenge to his law license for the former state Supreme Court justice’s handling of his taxpayer-funded review into the 2020 presidential election — this time for proposing the legally impossible task of decertifying the 20-month-old election’s results.
The complaint was filed last week by former Milwaukee attorney Kevin Kelsay and follows a similar complaint filed last month by a Dane County judge for Gableman’s courtroom conduct during which he refused to testify and accused the judge of being a “partisan” advocate.
The state has multiple, overlapping safeguards aimed at preventing ineligible voters from casting ballots, tampering with the ballots or altering vote totals.
"Despite concerns with statewide elections procedures, this audit showed us that the election was largely safe and secure," Sen. Rob Cowles said Friday.
The memo states that state law gives the Audit Bureau complete access to all records during an audit investigation and federal law and guidance does not prohibit an election official from handing over election records.
Thousands of ballot certifications examined from Madison are a window onto how elections officials handled a pandemic and a divided and unhelpful state government.
"I don't think that you instill confidence in a process by kind of blindly assuming there's nothing to see here," WILL president and general counsel Rick Esenberg said.
The clear insinuation was that someone not qualified to conduct an election improperly influenced these vulnerable voters. But the Wisconsin State Journal could not confirm the data.
The clear insinuation was that someone not qualified to conduct an election improperly influenced these vulnerable voters. But the Wisconsin State Journal could not confirm the data.
The turnout at nursing homes in Brown, Kenosha, Milwaukee and Racine counties in 2020 was not much different from the turnout in 2016.
Michael Gableman turns on Robin Vos, endorses primary challenger Adam Steen
Michael Gableman has turned on Speaker Robin Vos, who has paid the former state Supreme Court Justice more than $100,000 in taxpayer dollars to to lead the one-party review of the 2020 presidential election, claiming in a new robocall endorsing the speaker's primary challenger that Vos "never wanted a real investigation."
Gableman's endorsement of Adam Steen, who is challenging Vos in Tuesday's primary, was first mentioned by former President Donald Trump, who has also backed Steen, in a Waukesha County rally on Friday in support of Trump-endorsed candidates, including gubernatorial candidate Tim Michels.
Robin Vos declares victory over Trump-endorsed Adam Steen, slams Michael Gableman as 'embarrassment to this state'
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos declared victory in a surprisingly close primary challenge against Donald Trump-endorsed Republican Adam Steen in a tight race largely driven by the former president’s lies and continued discontent about the 2020 presidential election.
He also called former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman, whom he hired to review the 2020 election, “an embarrassment to this state,” a stunning rebuke after Gableman endorsed Steen and appeared at Steen’s election night watch party at a Racine County facility owned by a funeral home company.
The state has multiple, overlapping safeguards aimed at preventing ineligible voters from casting ballots, tampering with the ballots or altering vote totals.
"Despite concerns with statewide elections procedures, this audit showed us that the election was largely safe and secure," Sen. Rob Cowles said Friday.
The memo states that state law gives the Audit Bureau complete access to all records during an audit investigation and federal law and guidance does not prohibit an election official from handing over election records.
Thousands of ballot certifications examined from Madison are a window onto how elections officials handled a pandemic and a divided and unhelpful state government.
"I don't think that you instill confidence in a process by kind of blindly assuming there's nothing to see here," WILL president and general counsel Rick Esenberg said.
The clear insinuation was that someone not qualified to conduct an election improperly influenced these vulnerable voters. But the Wisconsin State Journal could not confirm the data.
The clear insinuation was that someone not qualified to conduct an election improperly influenced these vulnerable voters. But the Wisconsin State Journal could not confirm the data.
The turnout at nursing homes in Brown, Kenosha, Milwaukee and Racine counties in 2020 was not much different from the turnout in 2016.
Robin Vos looking for 'natural conclusion' to Michael Gableman's election review
The more than $1.1 million taxpayer-funded, GOP-ordered review of the 2020 election appears to be on its last legs, but the wheels began coming off five months ago when lead investigator Michael Gableman recommended the Legislature take the legally impossible step of decertifying the results.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, who hired Gableman last year to lead the probe, in an interview with the Wisconsin State Journal on Thursday said that recommendation in a March interim report soured his opinion of the former state Supreme Court justice.
Robin Vos fires Michael Gableman, leaving GOP election review in limbo
After 14 months, hundreds of headlines, more than $1 million in taxpayer dollars and a bitter, public feud, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos on Friday fired Michael Gableman, the former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice he hired last summer to review Wisconsin’s 2020 presidential election.
The speaker’s decision came just days after Gableman — and former President Donald Trump — endorsed Vos’ primary opponent, Adam Steen, whom the speaker narrowly defeated Tuesday. Speaking to reporters after unofficial results came in on election night, Vos called Gableman “an embarrassment to the state” and said he would speak with members of his caucus about the former justice’s future.
The man accused of using the identities of two other people to obtain their absentee ballots was in Racine County Circuit Court on Monday with some high-profile legal counsel. Michael Gableman is the former justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court who was hired by Assembly Speaker Robin Vos last year to investigate alleged irregularities in the 2020 presidential election — a post he was fired from in mid-August. Gableman had endorsed the conservative challenger to Vos, Adam Steen, in a contentious Aug. 9 primary election that Vos narrowly won, after which Vos called Gableman “an embarrassment to the state.”
