WEC Officials Demand Destruction of 2020 Ballots While Claiming Elections Are “Clean”

WEC Chairman Don Millis Demands Ballots be Destroyed

While repeatedly insisting that Wisconsin’s elections are among the cleanest in the nation, top election officials are now pushing to destroy the very records that could substantiate those claims. Milwaukee’s 2020 absentee ballots (estimated to be between 180,000 and 265,000) remain preserved only because of an active lawsuit and litigation hold. Yet Wisconsin Elections Commission Chair Don Millis, a Republican appointee, is urging Attorney General Josh Kaul to intervene and destroy them.

Millis recently stated: 

“There are… 265,000 absentee ballots from which you could determine how those 265,000 people voted… and those ballots should be destroyed. No one’s entitled to see those.”

This claim is misleading. Absentee ballots themselves contain no voter names. The only way to connect a ballot to a voter is through the separate certification envelope, which is already separated from the ballot before it is counted. As Chairman of the WEC, Millis should understand this basic fact of how Wisconsin elections are conducted.

As a practicing tax attorney, Don Millis would never advise a client to destroy financial records or evidence before a thorough examination, especially in the middle of an active investigation or legal proceeding. Yet as Chair of the Wisconsin Elections Commission, he is doing precisely that––advocating for the immediate destruction of voted ballots that remain under litigation hold and are relevant to ongoing inquiries. This contradiction raises serious questions about his judgment and fitness to lead the agency responsible for overseeing the integrity of Wisconsin elections.

Millis also appears to be relying on an obscure statute that requires poll workers at central count facilities to mark a number on the back of certain absentee ballots and their corresponding envelopes. This practice has fueled legitimate concerns that poll workers could mark or spoil a voter’s ballot. Rather than defending this flawed process, Millis should support its repeal. Notably, he is calling only for the destruction of the ballots themselves, not the envelopes that would actually contain identifying information. This selective approach raises serious questions about his true motivations.

Any legitimate concerns about ballot secrecy can be addressed through standard judicial procedures. A judge can issue protective orders, conduct in-camera reviews, and require separate examination of ballots and envelopes to prevent any matching of voter identity with votes. These safeguards are routinely used in sensitive cases and would fully protect voter privacy while still allowing for meaningful review of the records.

This push to destroy ballots comes while an active FBI investigation into the processing of Milwaukee’s 2020 absentee ballots at Central Count continues. Governor Tony Evers, Don Millis, and Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson cannot credibly claim ignorance of the litigation hold, which has been publicly cited by Milwaukee County counsel. If these officials truly believe the elections were “clean,” as they have repeatedly claimed, then why rush to destroy the very records that could prove it?

Ann Jacobs, former WEC Chair, has stated that “Wisconsin has some of the cleanest elections in the country.” Don Millis has similarly declared that “Wisconsin had one of the cleanest elections in the country in 2020.” Yet when given the opportunity to let the records speak for themselves, they instead advocate for their destruction while legal proceedings and investigations remain active. This is not transparency. It is the opposite.

Wisconsin voters deserve officials who stand on the side of preserving evidence and allowing the truth to emerge, not those who rush to eliminate records that could shed light on the integrity of our elections. The 2020 ballots must remain preserved until the lawsuit and any related investigations are fully resolved.