Snodgrass leads charge to strengthen election bribery protections

Elon Musk’s introduction of a monetary inducement to sign a petition during the recent state supreme court race has motivated Democratic legislators to take action.

Musk offered $100 to voters to sign a petition against “activist judges” and later offered $1 million dollars to two voters willing to be spokespersons for the petition.

Wisconsin law already makes it illegal to offer “anything of value” to voters to induce them to vote for or against a particular candidate and Attorney General Josh Kaul brought a lawsuit for a temporary restraining order against Musk and his affiliated America PAC, claiming his offers were a violation of state law.

Susan Crawford went on to beat Musk’s and Trump’s endorsed candidate, Brad Schimel, in a landslide on April 1, though Kaul’s lawsuit was dismissed by a circuit court and a court of appeals and the state supreme court refused to hear the case. One judge who dismissed the case said he was unable to conclude whether Musk’s actions were legal, only that Kaul lacked two of the four necessary requirements for making the request.

Two Wisconsinites did end up receiving checks for $1 million at a rally in Green Bay a couple of days before the election.

On April 10, Rep. Lee Snodgrass (D-Appleton) led the movement for the “Petition Payment Prohibition Act,” which has the support of 34 assembly Democrats, though no Republicans to this point. The bill explicitly would expand existing election bribery laws to prohibit bribing voters to sign or refrain from signing election nomination papers, recall petitions and other petitions, including in support or opposition of candidates. 

“One of the most fundamental principles of our democracy is the concept of 'one person, one vote,'" Snodgrass said. “We have seen attempts at vote-buying from billionaire oligarch Elon Musk in battleground states in the recent Presidential Election and in our Supreme Court Election. It’s far past time to get big money out of politics.

“As the ranking member of the Assembly Committee on Campaigns and Elections, I will continue to put forth measures that enhance our election integrity and every voter who is eligible to vote is able to do so with confidence and ease. ”

If passed, the prohibition would only be in force during a candidate election or referendum between Dec. 1 and the spring election or between April 15 and the general election. Nothing of value exceeding $5 dollars would be permissible to influence voters to sign or not sign a petition or support or oppose candidates or referendums. The prohibition also extends to matters of political issues, state law or potential legislation.

Musk’s actions this past spring would be covered by the bill. Under the current election bribery law – which is a Class I felony – violators are subject to a prison term of up to three-and-a-half years and a fine as high as $10,000.

The bill was referred to the Committee on Campaigns and Elections. 

Democratic sponsors, who insist the legislation should be bipartisan, also argued in their memo that  “candidates and issue groups should use the strength of their message to attract voters to their cause, not cash bribes or promises of financial reward. It is a gross perversion of our democracy and must not be allowed to continue in future elections. Failing to act is a tacit acceptance that our votes are for sale. Rejecting this premise is something members of both parties should be able to agree on.”