The man gathered hundreds of signatures to help Cindy Werner, a Republican from Milwaukee, get on the August primary ballot. People on probation are ineligible to vote, and anyone gathering signatures must be an eligible voter.
By Gus Pirlot, THE BADGER PROJECT
Republican candidate for Secretary of State Cindy Werner appears to have illegally used a man on probation to gather nomination signatures, according to an investigation by The Badger Project using court records and her nomination papers filed with the state.
Per state law, only individuals eligible to vote may serve as circulators to gather signatures for a candidate’s nomination papers. Since the circulator is on probation, he is not currently eligible to vote, and therefore was not legally permitted to collect nomination signatures for Werner.
“Because my campaign has consistently emphasized election integrity, transparency, and accountability, I take the questions you have raised very seriously,” Werner wrote in an email to The Badger Project on Friday morning. “Upon receiving your email, I immediately began reviewing the matter and gathering the relevant facts.”
Werner sent a follow-up email a few hours later after she said she spoke with the circulator in question.
“He indicated that he believed my instructions regarding eligibility applied only to the electors signing the nomination papers and that he misunderstood that those requirements also applied to the circulator,” she wrote. “I have asked him to provide his understanding in writing and am continuing to verify the relevant facts.”
The Wisconsin Elections Commission did not respond immediately to requests for comment.
People convicted of felonies in Wisconsin regain their voting rights after completing their entire sentence. Those who are released from jail or prison but are still on probation often mistakenly think they are then eligible to vote, experts say.
To run for office in Wisconsin, candidates must collect a set number of signatures from eligible voters and submit them to the elections commission for verification. To run for a statewide office, such as secretary of state, candidates must collect and submit 2,000 signatures.
The man, from Milwaukee, collected over 300 signatures for Werner in late May, days before the June 1 deadline to file for nomination. He is currently on probation after his release from prison in December of 2025. The latest his full sentence can be completed is in 2031.
The elections commission scrutinized Werner’s campaign earlier this month for suspicious nomination signatures after a challenge alleged hundreds of signatures, many collected by the circulator in question and Werner herself, looked too similar to be unique. The elections commission decided there was not enough proof to determine forgery.
During the June 9 hearing, Commissioner Ann Jacobs, chair of the Wisconsin Elections Commission, said, “We are not handwriting experts, but I gotta tell you, starting with about page 219 of these papers, they are sketchy… there’s real issues there. It has been our practice to not void signatures based on our gut assumptions because we have always believed that would open the door to some significant- we’d have challenges on every signature. But, just gotta say.”
Werner, of Milwaukee, touts herself as a military veteran, realtor and former compliance manager. She is a self-described activist for election accountability and voter education. She previously served as 2nd Vice Chair of the Republican Party of Milwaukee County.
Despite concerns, the elections commission voted to move Werner along in the process, and she is set to appear on the Republican primary ballot in August.
The Badger Project is an independent, reader-supported news nonprofit in Wisconsin.
FREE TO READ. EXPENSIVE TO PRODUCE.
Creating our hard-hitting news takes a lot of time and money.
A story like this needs at least 8 hours to research, write and edit.
Please consider financially supporting The Badger Project to help us do more reporting in the future.