Judge issues ‘benediction’ for eliminated elections board

By: Associated Press//June 10, 2016//

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members of the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board and staff gather during a public meeting of the group in Madison, Wis. Facing camera from left are Elections Division Administrator Michael Haas, and board members Judge Elsa Lamelas and Judge Gerald C. Nichol. The nonpartisan elections and ethics oversight board is facing elimination - targeted by Gov. Scott Walker and Republican lawmakers after questions over the board’s involvement in a secret investigation into Walker and other conservative groups that the Wisconsin Supreme Court declared unconstitutional in July, 2015. (John Hart/Wisconsin State Journal via AP, File) — Members of the Government Accountability Board and staff, including Judge Gerald Nichol (middle), gather during a public meeting of the group in Madison recently. (John Hart/Wisconsin State Journal via AP, File)

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A member of Wisconsin’s nonpartisan state elections board says he prays that the public “come to its senses” and demand a reversal of a state Supreme Court ruling ending an investigation into Gov. Scott Walker.

Government Accountability Board member Gerald Nichol issued a “Benediction for the GAB” at its meeting Friday. The Republican-controlled Legislature voted to do away with the board of former judges and replace it with two partisan commissions, one to oversee elections and another for ethics. One of the largest cited reasons for eliminating the GAB was due to its involvement in the John Doe investigation into Walker and conservative groups.

Nichol says he also prays the new commissions will “put aside partisan politics” and that the public will demand legislation outlawing coordination in campaign finance.

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