EAdIElection Administration Index
How professionally and independently is election administration codified?
Dimensions
Accountability
50.0% · 1/2| Datapoint | Score | Rationale & evidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| COI.1Conflict-of-interest disclosureAre commissioners and senior election staff required by statute to disclose financial interests (vendor relationships, party positions, candidate connections) publicly? | 0/10.0% | No candidate sections returned by FTS. | no FTS match 2026-05-18 |
| COI.2Judicial review of administrative decisionsIs the right to seek judicial review of election-authority decisions codified, with standing, timeline, and venue defined? | 1/1100.0% | Wis. Stat. § 5.08 codifies the petition-for-enforcement mechanism: 'any elector may file a verified petition alleging such facts as are within his or her knowledge to indicate that an election official has failed or is failing to comply with any law.' § 5.07 codifies the AG/DA action-to-compel-compliance authority. § 5.06 compliance review. Standing + venue codified. | § view source 2026-05-18 |
Commission
30.0% · 2/5| Datapoint | Score | Rationale & evidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| COMM.1Statutory grounding of commissionIs the election commission's existence and core mandate set in the constitution (rather than statute alone, regulation, or executive order)? | 1/250.0% | Wis. Stat. § 5.025 defines 'commission' as the elections commission. § 5.05 codifies the commission's powers and duties as statewide elections administrator. Statute-level grounding (Wisconsin Elections Commission established by Wis. Stat. § 15.61, not in surfaced corpus, with constitutional grounding for the SoS being inapplicable since WI moved from SoS to standalone commission in 2015). | § view source 2026-05-18 |
| COMM.2Multi-branch appointmentAre commission members appointed by multiple branches (legislature, judiciary, executive) such that no single branch unilaterally controls composition? | 0/10.0% | § 7.20 establishes local boards of election commissioners (large cities and counties) — but doesn't codify multi-branch appointment for the WEC itself. The WEC's multi-branch composition (legislative-appointed commissioners) lives in Wis. Stat. § 15.61 (not surfaced). | § view source 2026-05-18 |
| COMM.3Term protectionAre commissioner terms defined in statute with fixed length, staggered cycles, and statutory grounds for removal? | 0.5/150.0% | § 7.21 codifies the duties + regulations of election commissioners. § 7.20 sets the 4-commissioner board structure with fixed terms. WEC commissioner terms (5 years staggered) live in § 15.61 (not surfaced). | § view source 2026-05-18 |
| COMM.4Political-balance requirementIs the commission's composition required by statute to be politically balanced (party-balanced, supermajority-confirmation, or independent appointment by judiciary)? | 0/10.0% | No candidate sections returned by FTS. | no FTS match 2026-05-18 |
Funding
0.0% · 0/4| Datapoint | Score | Rationale & evidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| FUND.1Independent funding lineIs the election authority's budget a separate statutory line item (not subject to mid-cycle reallocation by the executive branch alone)? | 0/10.0% | § 7.10 codifies that 'Each county clerk shall provide ballots for every election' — implying county elections-administration funding. § 5.05 codifies the commission's general administrative authority. Specific separate-line-item codification for the WEC budget lives outside the ingested corpus. | § view source 2026-05-18 |
| FUND.2Multi-year funding cycleAre election infrastructure budgets set on a multi-year cycle (avoiding annual political renegotiation of election-administration money)? | 0/10.0% | No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: § 7.22 codifies that 'The common council shall determine the salaries of the election commissioners and shall include sufficient funds in its budget' — this is annual budgeting, not a multi-year cycle. | § view source 2026-05-18 |
| FUND.3Foreign funding prohibitionIs foreign-source funding of the election authority (and election administration vendors, where applicable) prohibited by statute? | 0/20.0% | No candidate sections returned by FTS. | no FTS match 2026-05-18 |
Staff Training
33.3% · 1/3| Datapoint | Score | Rationale & evidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| STAFF.1Career professional staffIs the election authority's career staff (professional employees, not political appointees) protected by civil-service or analogous merit-based statute? | 0/10.0% | No candidate sections returned by FTS. | no FTS match 2026-05-18 |
| STAFF.2Mandatory trainingIs training for election officials and poll workers required by statute, with content and frequency defined? | 1/1100.0% | Wis. Stat. § 7.315 codifies the training requirement: 'The commission shall, by rule, prescribe the contents of the training that municipal clerks must provide to inspectors, other than chief inspectors, and to special voting deputies.' § 7.31 codifies training + certification of chief inspectors (mandatory training session attendance). Comprehensive statutory training mandate. | § view source 2026-05-18 |
| STAFF.3Whistleblower protectionAre election-related whistleblower protections (for staff reporting irregularities) codified in statute? | 0/10.0% | No candidate sections returned by FTS. | no FTS match 2026-05-18 |
Vendor Oversight
33.3% · 1/3| Datapoint | Score | Rationale & evidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| CERT.1Certification process codifiedIs the voting-equipment certification process (criteria, evaluators, timeline, public-comment period) codified in statute or regulation? | 1/1100.0% | Wis. Stat. § 5.91 codifies the commission-certification regime: 'No ballot, voting device, automatic tabulating equipment, or related equipment and materials to be used in an electronic voting system may be utilized in this state unless it is certified by the commission.' § 5.84 codifies testing requirements. § 5.87 codifies tabulating procedures + equipment requirements. | § view source 2026-05-18 |
| CERT.2Recertification triggersAre recertification triggers (after material updates, after defects discovered, on a fixed schedule) codified? | 0/10.0% | No candidate sections returned by FTS. | no FTS match 2026-05-18 |
| CERT.3Decertification grounds & procedureAre the grounds for revoking certification, and the procedure for doing so, defined in statute? | 0/10.0% | § 5.91 implies decertification is possible (certification is a prerequisite to use), but no explicit decertification grounds + procedure are codified in surfaced corpus. | § view source 2026-05-18 |