Bangstad slams Wisconsin Elections Commission after ballot denial

“The Wisconsin Elections Commission denied ballot access to dozens of candidates in one vote, based on the recommendations of the WEC staff alone. One of those candidacies was my own for governor of Wisconsin,” Bangstad said.

The Elections Commission ruled Bangstad did not submit enough valid signatures. He needed 2,000 valid signatures to make the August primary ballot, but the Commission said he was about 500 short.

Bangstad claimed he tried to fix the mistakes, but said the commission still denied him ballot access.

“We spent an entire week reaching out to dozens of Wisconsinites who circulated our nomination forms and had them sign notarized affidavits correcting errors that the WEC claimed were reasons the signatures weren’t counted in the first place. We filed those affidavits before last Sunday’s deadline,” Bangstad added. “Before we accept that we’re officially off the ballot, I want to personally see how many affidavits we submitted that were officially rejected and why.”

Bangstad also logged some personal complaints against commission members.

He said three commissioners should have recused themselves from his case.

“Corporate Democrat Ann Jacobs should have recused herself from that vote because she publicly called me an antisemite after I wrote an article criticizing Jewish Federal Judge Lynn Adelman,” Bangstad wrote. “I believe Mark Thomsen, another corporate Democrat from Milwaukee on the WEC board, should have recused himself from a vote to kick me off the ballot because he told me personally in a text message that he was supporting another corporate Democrat from Milwaukee for governor.”

Bangstad also said that commissioner Bob Spindell should have stepped away because “he purposefully attempted to steal Biden’s victory over Trump in our state.”

Bangstad has threatened to sue to get on the ballot. On Thursday, he clarified.

“Obviously, there are some big hurdles I’ll have to climb to get on this ballot, and they will probably involve suing the WEC staff and/or the WEC board. I’m not sure it will be worth the effort, but I’m sure as hell not going to give up before I’ve seen the data and before I have a legal opinion on my theory on why these board members should recuse themselves,” Bangstad added. “Stay tuned for more quixotic windmill tilting in the name of protecting elections and saving American democracy.”