Wisconsin GOP leader rejects Trump-backed call to decertify election
A top Republican legislative leader is rejecting calls from a member of his caucus and former President Donald Trump to decertify the 2020 election results because it’s impossible to do so.
Rep. Tim Ramthun of Campbellsport put forward a resolution this week that would overturn the results of Wisconsin’s presidential election — a move Trump praised in a news release blasted nationwide that also urged a member of the state Senate to co-sponsor.
But Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke said Thursday there would be no action on the resolution, citing analysis from the nonpartisan Legislative Council concluding there is no mechanism to accomplish the idea.
“I’ve always encouraged our members to have a full understanding of the law before putting out bills or resolutions. The resolution being discussed here does not follow the law as has been outlined by the nonpartisan Legislative Council,” he said in a statement.
“The legislature will continue our focus on uncovering any instances of fraud and irregularities in order to ensure the security of the electoral process. There will be no action taken by the Assembly on this resolution.”
In the Senate, a spokesman for Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu declined to comment.
Ramthun has long called for lawmakers to move to overturn the election results despite there being no mechanism to do so and has largely been ignored by legislative leaders, with Assembly Speaker Robin Vos on Sunday dismissing it as a “talking point of the far left and far right.”
When was Wisconsin’s election certified?
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and the head of Wisconsin’s elections board certified Joe Biden’s victory in the state on Nov. 30 as Republicans contended they should have waited to act because of a likely lawsuit from Trump.
On Dec. 14, 10 Democratic electors also met inside Evers’ office to finalize the state’s 10 electoral votes for Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. At the same time, Republicans convened to cast votes for President Donald Trump.
Ultimately, the results of the Nov. 3, 2020, presidential election, which declared Biden the winner, were certified on Jan. 6, 2021, when Congress met to tabulate the Electoral College vote.
Who wants to undo the results?
Since the election results were certified, Ramthun has called to “pull the electoral ballots back from Wisconsin.”
In a recent video, Ramthun said: “I’d like to see our legislative bodies say, ‘This is crap here, this stuff happened and it shouldn’t’ve happened and it’s illegal and people are paying for it and oh, by the way, it changed the outcome of the election, we’re pulling our stuff back because now there’s no question.’ Pull those 10 back. Arizona should pull their 11 back. Georgia should pull their 16 back.”
Ramthun, elected to the state Assembly in 2018, has dedicated much of his attention to the 2020 election, claiming without evidence it was poisoned with widespread fraud.
In August, he appeared at a conspiracy…
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