Wisconsin Government Accountability Board

The Board consisted of six members who served staggered, six-year terms. Board members were appointed by the Governor of Wisconsin, but the Governor had to select from a pool of retired state court judges chosen by a selection committee composed of a randomized set of Wisconsin Appeals Court judges, and the Governor's appointees had to then be approved by the Wisconsin Senate. The board members served part-time, and received a per diem for each meeting they attended.[2]

The G.A.B. was created as a reform measure after the Wisconsin "legislative caucus scandal" in 2001[3][4] which led to criminal convictions of the state Assembly's highest-ranking Republican (Speaker Scott Jensen), the state Senate's highest-ranking Democrat (Majority Leader Chuck Chvala), and other officials.[5] The G.A.B. was tasked with overseeing elections, ethics and lobbying in the state.[5] The 2007 Wisconsin Act 1, which passed the Wisconsin Legislature on a bipartisan vote in January 2007, merged the State Elections Board and State Ethics Board into the new G.A.B.[6][7]

The G.A.B. had a nonpartisan structure unique among election boards in the United States, with G.A.B. led by six former judges appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state Senate.[3][6] In contrast to the G.A.B.'s nonpartisan model, state election boards in other U.S. states were either partisan (ie., run by elected or appointed partisan officials) or bipartisan.[6] G.A.B. members could not "hold another state or local public office (except as reserve judge), engage in partisan political activities, become a candidate for state or local elected office, make political contributions, or be a lobbyist or employed by a person who employs a lobbyist. They also have limitations on political activities and certain types of contributions both during and 12 months prior to a member's term."[6] The G.A.B.'s structure was praised by some experts.[8]

Law professor Daniel P. Tokaji, who studied the G.A.B., praised the agency's model, concluding in 2013 that "GAB has been successful in administering elections evenhandledly and... serves as a worthy model for other states considering alternatives to partisan election administration at the state level."[9] The Board has the power to investigate independently, without the approval of the legislature.[4] The G.A.B. oversaw a series of recall elections for the state senate in 2011 and for state senate and governor in 2012.[3]

The G.A.B. was consistently criticized by Wisconsin Republicans, such as Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and Senate Majority Leader Scott L. Fitzgerald, and the conservative advocacy group Americans for Prosperity; these critics accused the G.A.B. of unfairly targeting Republicans. Republicans were particularly angry over a G.A.B. investigation into whether Republican Governor Scott Walker's campaign had unlawfully coordinated with the Club for Growth and other "outside" groups during the 2012 recall election.[3][4][5][10][8]

By contrast, Democrats and good-government groups such as the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign and Common Cause defended the G.A.B.[3][5][8] In December 2015, Walker signed a bill that dissolved the G.A.B.,[8] effective on June 30, 2016,[3] and replaced it with a separate Wisconsin Elections Board and Wisconsin Ethics Commission.[4]

The legislation dismantling the G.A.B. passed along party lines, with Republicans voting yes and Democrats voting no.[8] Wisconsin's revision to a "bipartisan" rather than "nonpartisan" model increased the power of the Republican-controlled legislature, and also increased deadlocks; while the G.A.B. rarely deadlocked, the Elections Board frequently deadlocked among party lines.[4] The 2015 legislation also restored the practice of allowing state legislators to control funding for investigations into possible misconduct by state officials.[8]

• Official website (Archived June 28, 2016)