(WBAY) – Green Bay, Wisconsin The Green Bay City Clerk is accused of limiting access to poll watchers throughout the absentee voting process in a lawsuit filed in Brown County.
On November 1st, a lawsuit was brought against Celestine Jeffreys. Nathan DeLorey, Randy Wery, Patricia Schick, and Denise Vetter are mentioned as the plaintiffs. They are poll watchers.
The election on November 8 is less than a week away.
The suit claims Jeffreys has been “prohibiting members of the public from observing all aspects of the in-person absentee ballot voting process that has been underway since October 25, 2022 at the office of the City Clerk for the City of Green Bay. ”
The lawsuit asks for an injunction and temporary restraining order to “prevent her from breaking Wis. Stat. 7.
41, which requires that municipal clerks allow the public to observe all public aspects of the in-person absentee ballot voting process, and an order and a declaratory judgment regarding the proper construction of the Wisconsin Statutes requiring that the public be afforded the ability to observe all public aspects of the in-person absentee ballot voting process. ”
According to the lawsuit, Jeffreys divided the vote into two areas.
The observers claim that some of the proceedings are taking place in Jeffreys’ office and some are taking place in the open hallway outside of the office.
According to the lawsuit, “Jeffreys has prevented observers from seeing any portion of the voting process that takes place in the public hallway outside of her office,” despite the fact that there are two locations where the in-person absentee ballot voting process is conducted.
The comission’s statement states that Jeffreys “has specifically restricted observers to a small area of her office, where they can only observe electors coming into her office to check-in, register to vote, and obtain an in-person absentee ballot—but they are expressly prohibited from observing any aspect of the voting process that takes place in the public hallway, including, but not limited to, the witness certification process and depositing the in-person absentee ballot in the ballot box.”
In order to “watch all facets of the in-person absentee ballot voting process,” the plaintiffs are asking the court to issue an injunction.
The hearing is set to begin at 11 a.m. on November 2.
Suit claims Green Bay City Clerk is denying poll watchers access.
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