City Clerk Celestine Jeffreys, who is also violating the vote laws in Green Bay, is back on the record.  ,
In response to a complaint made by three Green Bay residents on behalf of the Public Interest Legal Foundation, Jeffreys claims that she has no strictly adhered to Wisconsin Statutes, but that the loss was unintended and a result of a lack of knowledge of the requirements.
In brief, the many- troubled clerk was ignorant, never deliberate, according to the legal response. It’s more like Jeffreys ‘ story, the far-left mayor’s former chief of staff in Green Bay, who made headlines with the 2020 Zuckerbucks controversy and then became punitive when its bumbling secretary had formerly twisted state election laws.  ,
The Law is Clear
PILF claimed Jeffreys omitted Wisconsin’s same-day registration laws, breaking Wisconsin’s election commission’s ( WEC ) rules last month. The National Conference of State Legislators says that Wisconsin is one of the 20 claims and the District of Columbia that offers poll time subscription.  ,
The law is clear. As part of its post-election inspection requirements, the Elections Commission is required to send letters to voters who registered on election time as per state law. Postcards that have n’t been delivered are returned to the city’s original city’s clerk.  ,
The election formal may alter the voter’s position from “eligible to unsuitable on the subscription list” in accordance with the law for postcards that are returned undeliverable or if the assistant is informed that the voter resides at a different address than the one provided on election day. The official then needs to send the voter a notice of the change,” and give the name of the elector to the elections commission and the district attorney for the county where the polling place is located” “ .
WEC “updated advice regarding the management and control of Election Day Registration cards returned to a clerk’s business after an vote,” confirming the requirements are required.  , Jeffreys failed to do this portion of her work at every turn, according to the issue.  ,
Inactivated Zero Citizens
In the hotly contested 2020 presidential race, Democrat nominee Joe Biden just defeated then-President Donald Trump in the fight Badger State, according to the complaint from PILF, Green Bay reported 3, 497 Election Day licenses. Of those, 170 were returned “undeliverable” to the attendant’s business. According to Green Bay election officials ‘ election day filings report, Green Bay election officials “inactivated zero registrants and referred zero registrants to the city counsel.”
That line—’ purified zero people ‘ — comes up again and again. The 2021 elections, the principal and the 2022 general elections, in which communist Wisconsin officers won, and the 2023 springtime election, in which the far-left Wisconsin Supreme Court justice candidate claimed victory and handed over control of the court to leftists, were also held in secrecy. In the latter battle, of the 672 vote time registrants, 24 postcards were returned as unworkable to Jeffreys ‘ office.  ,
Instead of following the law, Jeffreys recorded the letters as “undeliverable” in WisVote and took no more activity. According to the lawsuit, Jeffreys is n’t doing any of the things she’s supposed to do: flag the voter as ineligible on the registration list, send them an alert about the change, and inform the local DA and the elections commission of potential fraudulent activity.  ,
Oops.
‘ This is Bad ‘
Green Bay Assistant City Attorney Lindsay Matther gives assurance to the Wisconsin Elections Commission that she will follow the Wisconsin Elections Commission’s instructions and legal advice in formulating a plan for handling the unworkable postcards going ahead.
Clerk Jeffreys was conscious that she would have to do each of these things, but she is currently drafting written instructions for doing so. When her business receives an unworkable EDR postcard, Clerk Jeffreys may take the following steps in accordance with the law and the WEC’s guidance:” In the future, in accordance with the statute,” the response states.  ,
However, many election cycles have caused the damage.  ,
” This is bad”, said Lauren Bowman Bis, PILF’s director of communications. People must believe their elected representatives in a certain way. For her to never be following the law, not yet knowing the law, … is amazing”. She added that Jeffreys ‘ inaction” could be easily used for fraud and abuse” ( ).
” It’s not often you have an elected official admit she does n’t know the law”, the spokeswoman said. ” Wisconsin is a critical condition. We’re going into the 2024 election. This does n’t just affect the people in Green Bay or Wisconsin. We all want belief in our elections, that the laws are being followed. In Green Bay, that’s not the case” . ,
” Contrary to Law,”
Jeffreys has a history of controversy over vote laws. In the 2022 spring election, Jeffreys accepted several absentee ballots submitted by voters, according to the state elections commission’s findings in December. According to Green Bay’s WBAY News, native Matt Roeser and two additional witnesses claimed that they saw the secretary “accept, often, many absentee ballots from an individual voter.”  ,
In response, the town insisted that Jeffreys acted legally and that Green Bay “ran a good, free, and visible election on April 5, 2022 in accordance with state and federal law.” Additionally, the area” satisfied its equal security obligation to accept ballots on behalf of citizens who were unable to personally supply their own due to a disability or impairment.”
WEC did n’t see it that way. The commission’s decision found that Roeser had established possible cause in its decision to overturn Wisconsin’s election laws regarding ballot harvesting. Jeffreys allegedly abused her judgment by accepting votes from” sick” voters, according to the committee. Under Wisconsin legislation, those who have a verified disability may get vote return assistance.  ,
According to WEC,” sickness solely may or may not entail a disability, and therefore it cannot be a condition for receiving ballot return assistance,” adding Jeffreys” should guarantee that voters who qualify for ballot return assistance under the Voting Rights Act are able to get such assistance.”  ,
According to the decision,” The Commission therefore orders Celestine Jeffreys to amend any existing or potential policies in a manner that is in line with this choice.” ” Appropriately, to the amount that the Participant’s coverage accepted votes from voters who are’ ill,’ but no incapacitated, it is contrary to law”.
Oops.
The city responded with an “our bad” mea culpa, but insisted there was” significant confusion” in the April 2022 spring election about receiving absentee ballots. Additionally, it claimed to have fixed the errors.  ,
Center of Zuckerbucks
Following the contentious 2020 election, Jeffreys was chosen to become a city clerk. Christine Teske was replaced by Jeffreys after the long-term Green Bay clerk resigned amid the presence of leftist activists there.
Green Bay was one of the” Wisconsin-5″ cities that the Center for Tech and Civic Life awarded grants worth millions of dollars in electoral administration. The Chicago- based CTCL was launched by far left, former Democrat operatives. The group used hundreds of millions of dollars from Mark Zuckerberg, founder of conservative- silencing Facebook.  ,
Teske grew increasingly frustrated by the meddling of former Democrat operative Michael Spitzer- Rubenstein’s meddling in Green Bay’s election administration, according to emails obtained by Wisconsin Spotlight. According to the grant agreements, Spitzer-Rubenstein worked for the National Vote at Home Institute, one of the left-wing organizations in the CTCL network.  ,
Among other legally suspect actions, Spitzer- Rubenstein offered to” cure” or correct absentee ballot information. Teske repeatedly objected to Green Bay’s Democrat mayor, Eric Genrich, and to Jeffreys, his chief of staff, in the months leading up to the 2020 presidential election. She complained the “grant mentors” did n’t know Wisconsin election law and that their “help” likely was illegal.  ,
In an email sent in late August, Teske wrote,” I do n’t understand how people who do n’t know how to manage the election can tell us how to do it.”  ,
The mayor’s office applied pressure.  ,
” The grant mentors would like to meet with you to discuss, further, the ballot curing process. Please let them know when you’re available”, Jeffreys demanded of Teske.
Just weeks before the election, Teske took a leave of absence before resigning officially at the end of the year.  ,
‘Retaliatory’
In January, a Brown County Circuit Court Judge tossed out the city’s disorderly conduct citation against election observer and attorney Janet Angus, calling the city’s action “retaliatory”. Jeffreys, again, was in the middle of the matter.
According to Judge Tammy Jo Hock, Angus had confronted Jeffreys about concerns about election integrity, but he did not act in a disorderly manner.  ,
According to court transcripts obtained by The Federalist, Hock said,” I do n’t have to address the other concerns and arguments that are made about election integrity because I do n’t find that Miss Angus ‘ behavior was disorderly.” However, it does appear that the municipal citation was retaliatory because of the Wisconsin Elections [Commission ] complaint that was filed.  ,  ,
The judge’s finding is a damning statement on how the city of Green Bay, with Genrich at the helm, conducts business, particularly against political enemies. And it serves as a reminder that, in cities like Green Bay, actual government-led attempts to silence conservative election observers are taking place in contrast to the left’s breathless cries about poll workers and election officials being assaulted.  ,
The Federalist’s senior elections correspondent, Matt Kittle, is. An award- winning investigative reporter and 30- year veteran of print, broadcast, and online journalism, Kittle previously served as the executive director of Empower Wisconsin.
