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Wisconsin election takeover threatens our republican form of government

Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson's push for legislative control of elections is a blatant conflict of interest, according to the authors.

Sen. Ron Johnson and others

Alex Brandon-Pool/Getty Images

Johnson and Vanderklipp are, respectively, the executive director and research fellow for the Election Reformers Network and the co-authors of “ Nonpartisanship Works: How Lessons from Canada Can Reestablish Trust in U.S. Election Administration.”

Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson has repeated the call for his state’s legislature to seize control of the Wisconsin Elections Commission. Although a takeover won’t happen with Democratic Gov. Tony Evers holding the veto pen, this proposal increases a dangerous trend of partisan legislative micromanagement of elections. This threat to fair elections needs to be spotlighted and nonpartisan alternatives pursued instead.

Fundamentally, state legislatures reflect the interests of the political party in the majority, so Johnson’s proposal is tantamount to control of elections by an organization fielding candidates, a blatant conflict of interest and a hugely unfair advantage for incumbents.


Many legislatures already exert far too much control over election administration and rule-making. In 2021, legislatures have passed election laws at an absurd level of controlling detail, limiting not only dropboxes and voting by mail, but also whether voters in line can receive a drink of water. Redistricting led by legislatures, rather than independent commissions, allows lawmakers to help themselves win re-election and help their party win a majority of seats without a majority of votes.

Yes, the Constitution gives legislatures (and Congress) the power to prescribe “the time, place and manner” of federal elections, but the Supreme Court has rightly ruled that setting the rules for elections, not running them, is a lawmaking function.

The Constitution also requires the federal government to guarantee a “republican form of government” in the states, and it is not an exaggeration to say a state with party-controlled elections has lost that status. A republic is defined by elections that reflect the will of the people, not the will of the people already in office.

The underlying dispute in Wisconsin arose when the Elections Commission issued voting rules to comply with Covid-related public health orders that conflicted with state law. Johnson and others argue any breach of the law must be punished. The real culprit, however, is tightly prescriptive lawmaking in a complex area of public administration. Police commissioners, housing authorities and school superintendents all need latitude to find the best means to achieve policy goals in an unpredictable world. The same is true of election administrators.

A study we released this week illustrates how this needed flexibility is working just across the border from Wisconsin, in Canada. There, top provincial and territorial election officials have wide discretion to amend election provisions to meet the exigencies of the situation. The election code of Yukon, for example, says “the chief electoral officer may extend the time for doing any act; increase the number of election officers or polling stations; or otherwise adapt any of the provisions of this Act to the extent the chief electoral officer considers necessary to ensure the execution of the intent of this Act."

Both liberal and conservative governments in Canada have supported provisions like this in the 13 provinces and territories, and at the federal level.

Where Canadian laws are less flexible is in requiring these officials to be nonpartisan. Chief electoral officers must not actively affiliate with or endorse a party or candidate, and in seven provinces they are not even allowed to vote. Our study finds that this nonpartisanship has created a kind of virtuous circle. Increasing recognition of the neutrality of these officials has led to increasing willingness of lawmakers to entrust them with greater authority.

In the United States, that circle is turning in the opposite, and more vicious, direction. No U.S. state has election leadership structured for nonpartisanship, and states like Texas, Georgia and Arizona are pulling back the limited decision-making allowed to secretaries of state and state election boards. The impact of this mistrust can be seen in the 500 lawsuits filed over election laws implemented for Covid; in Canada, there appear to have been only three.

Nonpartisan election administration came about in Canada not because everyone gets along — they don’t — but from an “enough is enough” reaction to a blatantly manipulated election in 1917. Canada’s parties disagree over election security and voter access, and the most recent conservative government enacted a national voter ID. But no one disputes the value of nonpartisans in charge, or proposes a political party takeover of elections.

“Enough is enough” probably sums up the thinking of many in Wisconsin as well. What’s needed there, and in all states, is election leadership constitutionally required to act in a nonpartisan manner and constitutionally protected from legislative overreach. That won't be easy to achieve, But the alternative, as proposed by Johnson, would wreck the republican form of government in the state. The only way left for Wisconsin out of its partisan death spiral is to recognize that nonpartisanship works in many other countries, and to put it in place here.

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Washington, D.C. is at the center of American democracy. Yet today, its residents — taxpayers, veterans, workers, families, people like you an I, American citizens — are being stripped of their right to self-government. The recent surge of out-of-state National Guard troops into the District under federal order has highlighted a deep flaw in our system: D.C. does not have the same authority to govern itself that the 50 states enjoy.Keith

We are told this militarization is about “public safety,” but violent crime in D.C. is near a 30-year low . What we are witnessing is not a crime-fighting measure, but an unprecedented encroachment on local authority. The consent of the people — the foundation of democracy — is being sidelined to pursue a political or even personal agenda.

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Legally, a president can request National Guard support through interstate compacts. But legality is not the same as legitimacy. True democracy requires consent, not unilateral fiat. Under the Home Rule Act, federal control over D.C. is only supposed to last 30 days in emergencies. Yet the use of state-based National Guard units circumvents this safeguard and seems to demonstrate a hidden agenda. This is a loophole — one that undermines D.C.’s right to self-governance and sets a dangerous precedent for federal overreach.

An Urgent Legislative Answer

It is not enough to critique the abuse of power — we must fix it. That is why I have drafted the D.C. Defense of Self-Government Act, which closes this loophole and restores constitutional balance. The draft bill is now available for public review on my congressional campaign website:

Read the D.C. Defense of Self-Government Act here

This legislation would require explicit, expedited approval from Congress before federal or state National Guard troops can be deployed into the District. It ensures no president — Republican. Democrat or Independent — can bypass the will of the people of Washington, D.C.

This moment also reminds us of a deeper injustice that has lingered for generations: the people of Washington, D.C., remain without full representation in Congress. Over 700,000 Americans—more than the populations of several states—are denied a voting voice in the very body that holds sway over their lives. This lack of representation makes it easier for their self-government to be undermined, as we see today. That must change. We will need to revisit serious legislation to finally fix this injustice and secure for D.C. residents the same democratic rights every other American enjoys.

The Bigger Picture

This fight is not about partisan politics. It is about whether America will live up to its founding ideals of self-rule and accountability. Every voter, regardless of party, should ask: if the capital of our democracy can be militarized without the consent of the people, what stops it from happening in other cities across America?

A Call to Action

When I ran for president, my wife told me I was going to make history. I told her making history didn’t matter to me — what mattered to me then and what matters to me now is making a difference. I'm not in office yet so I have no legal authority to act. But, I am still a citizen of the United States, a veteran of the United States Air Force, someone who has taken the oath of office, many times since 1973. That oath has no expiration date. Today, that difference is about ensuring the residents of D.C. — and every American city — are protected from unchecked federal overreach.

I urge every reader to share this bill with your representatives. Demand that Congress act now. We can’t wait until the mid-terms. Demand that they defend democracy where it matters most — in the heart of our capital — because FBI and DEA agents patrolling the streets of our nation's capital does not demonstrate democracy. Quite the contrary, it clearly demonstrates autocracy.

Davenport is a candidate for U.S. Congress, NC-06.