Damakant Jayshi
A candidate seeking the Dist. 3 Board of Supervisors seat will be kept off the ballot after the Marathon County Clerk ruled she fell short of the required number of signatures.
Clerk Kim Trueblood has, however, rejected challenges against two other candidates – one in Dist. 32 and the other in Dist. 36. The challenges were filed last week.
Dist. 3 candidate Jo Ann Egelkrout filed a sworn affidavit Friday addressing challenges related to four signatures that had been disqualified and submitted 50 signatures before the deadline. Two challenges were filed by Egelkrout’s opponent, Supervisor Kody Hart, while two challenges were launched by the clerk’s office.
Though the clerk accepted an explanation for one signature that bore an incorrect date, she did not accept others. One signature was disqualified because the nominator had signed for Hart on Dec. 22, prior to signing for Egelkrout. That is not permitted under election rules.
Other challenges related to illegible names or a lack of street addresses.
“As a result of these findings, Jo Ann Egelkrout only submitted 49 valid signatures, and therefore did not meet the minimum threshold of 50 signatures to obtain ballot access,” Trueblood wrote in a letter to Hart, copying Egelkrout.
In her letter, Trueblood also explained that she was not going to address the previous signatures she rejected because the addresses were out of the district or duplicate signatures, thus self-explanatory. The clerk shared a copy of the letters with Wausau Pilot & Review.
Either party can appeal the county clerk’s decision to the Wisconsin Elections Commission with sworn statement within 10 days. State officials recommend any such complaints about ballot access decisions be filed immediately so an appeal can be heard prior to ballot printing.
The spring election is on Tuesday, April 2.
Before the county clerk’s determination was made, Egelkrout told this newspaper that she disputed falling short of the required nominations. She said she had initially submitted 60 signatures but the clerk tossed out 12 of those signatures last Tuesday, Jan. 2, the deadline to file candidacy paperwork. Egelkrout said she rushed out to find two neighbors, got their signatures and submitted the forms five minutes before the 5 p.m. deadline.
She also questioned Hart’s motive behind the challenge.
“It is not very common to challenge signatures to begin with,” Egelkrout said. “The use of signature challenges as a tactic to impede an opponent, especially when you are an election official yourself, surely should be of concern to the voters in Wausau. Give the voters a choice and let them decide.”
Hart is an assistant city clerk in the City of Wausau.
Hart, an assistant city clerk, told Wausau Pilot that public servants should be expected to do their due diligence – especially with elections, adding that due diligence means crossing every “T” and dotting every “I” because details and process are crucial.
“All public servants, and those wanting to be public servants, should be held to that same standard,” Hart said.
This newspaper has reached out to Egelkrout after the formal ruling to ask her about her next steps but she has yet to respond. If she files an appeal to the WEC and loses, she can still run in as a write-in.
Two other challenged candidates stay on ballot
Candidates for Dist. 32 and Dist. 36 whose nominations were challenged will remain on the ballot, according to separate rulings from the county clerk. Trueblood rejected challenges from Kristin Conway, who is not a candidate for the Marathon County Board.
The first was filed against Cindy Beaty for allegedly writing an incorrect election date, 4/2/23, on her paperwork. Due to the paperwork bearing the wrong date, Conway had asked that all signatures be invalidated. County Board Chair Kurt Gibbs is the other candidate in the Dist. 32 race.
“I must decline to uphold your challenge,” Trueblood wrote to Conway, with a cc to Beaty. “I have received a sworn affidavit from Cindy Beaty correcting the date to April 2, 2024.”
In her complaint related to Dist. 36, Conway challenged the residence of Scott Poole, saying he does not live in the district but is rather registered to vote in Middleton. Fred Schaefer is the other candidate for the Dist. 36 seat. Incumbent Bruce Lamont is not seeking reelection.
Trueblood also rejected Conway’s challenge to Poole’s residency status after he produced a copy of his Wisconsin’s driver’s license acquired on Sept. 30, showing he is a resident of Buckthorn Court.
“Since Mr. Poole did establish residency more than 28 days prior to the beginning of the filing period on December 1, the law requires that I decline to uphold your challenge and Mr. Poole’s ballot access remains intact,” Trueblood wrote to Conway.
The challenger has 10 days to file an appeal to the Wisconsin Elections Commission. Conway did not respond to questions from this newspaper. Conway, a former Wisconsin State Assembly candidate, will also have 10 days to appeal the clerk’s decisions to the state’s election commission.
City Clerk Kaitlyn Bernarde told Wausau Pilot & Review that she has not received nomination-related challenges.
