Voting commissioner addresses allegations of voter suppression in Milwaukee amid calls to resign

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- A Republican on the Wisconsin Elections Commission is not backing down from comments many voting rights groups see as voter suppression.

Commissioner Bob Spindell emailed constituents December 16 to tout Republican efforts to lower voter turnout in Milwaukee's minority communities.

Spindell is also the chair of the state Republican party's 4^th congressional district. WEC commissioners are political appointees, they're not supposed to be non-partisan. He's facing outrage for post-election comments about why fewer Black and Hispanic voters cast ballots in November.

Spindell said Thursday, "The statistics are the statistics: in the City of Milwaukee, 37,000 less votes."

Most of those votes were in Black and Hispanic communities, according to Spindell's post-election email that detailed Republican efforts throughout the election cycle.

Spindell wrote the Republican party was "especially proud of how the City of Milwaukee's gross vote went down from 74% to 63% of registered voters - 37,000 total votes less than cast in 2018."

In an interview, Spindell defended the email by saying, "If these people are deciding 'I'm not going to vote for the Republican, but I'm not going to vote for the Democrat like I usually do,' that, in my way of thinking, is a positive event."

He wrote a follow-up email January 2 that credited a "well thought out multi-faceted plan" for the "decrease in Democrat votes in the City".

Voting rights groups say that's evidence of coordinated voter suppression.

Sam Liebert is the Wisconsin State Director for voting rights group All Voting Is Local. He said, "I had to shake my head and re-read it a couple of times."

In a statement, All Voting Is Local called Spindell's comments "egregious" and the "antithesis to what a true democracy is all about". Liebert said voter suppression takes on many forms: citing recent court decisions banning drop boxes as an example.

WEC staffers that implement the commission's decisions are not political, even though commissioners are. Still, Liebert said, "There is also a time and a place for people like this to not be in a position that makes such crucial decisions on our elections in Wisconsin."

Non-profit organization Black Leaders Organizing for Communities, or BLOC, said Spindell's comments were "incredibly disturbing" but not surprising.

BLOC issued a statement that said, "It is incredibly racist to brag about lowering Black and Brown turnout," continuing "it is also unacceptable to have these comments and views held by an election official."

But Spindell said he's proud of inroads Republicans made in Black and Hispanic communities, adding in the interview, "And we're not stopping. We're going to continue this all year."

Spindell said he has no intention of resigning despite calls to do so from many voting rights groups.

Sam Liebert said All Voting Is Local is talking with its partners in the voting rights community about possible action that can be taken.