Election – Voter Intimidation and Coercion

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WI Supreme Court

Case Name: Madison Teachers, Inc., v. James R. Scott

Case No.: 2018 WI 11

Focus: Election – Voter Intimidation and Coercion

This case comes before us on a bypass petition filed by the records custodian and chairman of the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission (“WERC”), James R. Scott. Scott appeals a decision of the circuit court that granted summary judgment to Madison Teachers, Inc. (“MTI”) on its claim that the public records law was violated. The circuit court also awarded MTI statutory damages, attorneys fees and costs.

MTI had made repeated requests, at various times during the 2015 certification elections, for names of Madison Metropolitan School District (the “School District”) employees who had voted as of those dates. WERC denied MTI’s requests based on Scott’s determination that while this election was ongoing, the public interest that elections remain free from voter intimidation and coercion outweighed the public interest in favor of openness of public records.

One issue is presented in this appeal: whether the public interest that elections remain free from voter intimidation and coercion in this certification election is sufficient to outweigh the public interest in favor of openness of public records. Because we conclude that Scott lawfully performed the balancing test in concluding that the public interest in elections free from voter intimidation and coercion outweighs the public interest in favor of openness of public records, we reverse the circuit court. Accordingly, no attorneys fees are due MTI under the provisions of Wis. Stat. § 19.37(2).

Reversed

Concur:

Dissent:  A.W. BRADLEY, J. dissents, joined by ABRAHAMSON,   J. (opinion filed).

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.