Complaint accuses Madison of “inviting improper outside influence” in Nov. 2020 election

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - The Amistad Project announced the filing of a formal complaint with the Wisconsin Elections Commission against the City of Madison Tuesday morning outside the State Capitol.

The Amistad Project is a national conservative legal organization that calls itself “the nation’s leading election integrity watchdog”. Its complaint accuses the City of Madison of “inviting improper outside influence over its election process in 2020.”

This comes after Erick Kaardal, attorney for The Amistad Project, alleged that Madison accepted grant money from a non-profit called the Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL).

According to its website, “CTCL is a team of civic technologists, trainers, researchers, election administration and data experts working to foster a more informed and engaged democracy, and helping to modernize U.S. elections.”

The Amistad Project claimed that Racine, Kenosha, Green Bay and Milwaukee also collected funds from the same non-profit, totaling more than $6 million.

“Out of state corporations came in at the behest of your 5 liberal mayors of these cities and they engaged in election administration to effect the presidential result. They did it because they thought it was worth while to operate illegally and now they won and they’re encouraged,” said Kaardal.

Kaardal said accepting that money came with obligations, such as the city inviting “partisan activists representing private organizations” like the National Vote at Home Institute to drive up voter turnout among favored groups of people.

“There’s a big difference between spreading all that money, all that focus on absentee ballot turnout statewide. They were just focusing on urban areas that turnout the urban vote, which is more liberal. If that isn’t obvious, it should be,” said Kaardal.

Those filing the complaint also alleged that the city did not get approval from the State Legislature or the Wisconsin Elections Commission to accept these grants and their conditions.

Assemblyman Shae Sortwell, Assemblywoman Janel Brandtjen and State Senator Andre Jacque also expressed their desire to ensure that elections are conducted “transparently and in accordance with state laws.”

The Wisconsin Election Commission released a report Monday showing municipal clerks have referred 27 people to prosecutors for voting illegally in the November presidential election out of 3.3 million votes cast.