MADISON, Wis. — A complaint filed with the Wisconsin Election Commission (WEC) to have former president Donald Trump removed from the 2024 ballot has been denied. It's a decision that took less than three hours.
At 1 p.m. Thursday in Madison, Kirk Bangstad filed the complaint with the WEC.
Bangstad is the owner of Minocqua Brewing and filed the complaint following the ruling out of Colorado when its Supreme Court ruled last week the former president would not be on its state ballot.
"I'm simply a brewer from northern Wisconsin, but I care about my country, and I care about democracy, so that's why I'm doing this," Bangstad explained.
That was moments after Bangstad filed his complaint Thursday afternoon. He said then, he knew the complaint would be denied by the commission.
Just after 3:30 p.m., TMJ4 received an email from the commission saying they've recused themselves from the complaint, denying it altogether. A process UW-La Crosse Assistant Professor, Anthony Chergosky, said is par for the course.
"The Wisconsin Elections Commission acted quickly on this. They didn't do anything surprising. This was very much expected, and now we can turn our attention to how the courts in Wisconsin might handle this legal issue," Chergosky said.
Bangstad said he plans to sue the commission after the denial of his complaint. That action will take things to Dane County Circuit Court which could end up in Wisconsin's State Supreme Court.
However, if the U.S. Supreme Court takes Colorado's case and rules on it, that could make the decision for all 50 states whether Trump is on the ballot or not.
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