Waukesha Times

Former President Donald Trump recently launched a nationwide “Swamp the Vote” campaign, saying voters “must use every available appropriate tool to beat the Democrats.”

“Republicans must win and we must use every available appropriate tool to beat the Democrats,” Trump said in a video announcing the “Swamp the Vote” effort. “Whether you vote early, absentee, by mail or in person, we must swamp the radical Democrats with massive turnout.”

Trump is facing President Joe Biden in a 2020 election rematch where neither candidate received more than 50% of the vote in Wisconsin. Biden received 1,630,866 votes, or 49.4% of the state total, compared to Trump’s 1,610,184, or 48.8% of the state total.

With such a close margin, Wisconsin will no doubt be a battleground state in this November’s presidential rematch.

Rep. Bryan Steil (R-1) told News Talk 1130 WISN last month that Republican voters in the Badger State need to utilize every available tool for them to vote in the general election, such as through voter turnout drives and early voting.

“You got to play by the rules as they’re written. So, where Wisconsin law allows us to vote early, to vote absentee, to do other things to turn out the conservative vote, we got to play by the rules as they’re written if you want to win,” Steil said.

“Then we’re going to work to track, to make sure not only that they’re signed up, but that they do vote. Making sure that we actually bank the voters, as President Trump now calls it, ‘Swamp the Vote.’ Meaning at the end of the day here, we can either complain about the rules as they’re written, or we can win. I’m sick and tired of losing elections in Wisconsin. And to win, we have to bank votes and vote early in order to overwhelm the Democratic turnout that we know we’re going to see.”

The Waukesha Times attempted to contact several members of the Wisconsin Republican Party’s leadership, but they were unable to be reached for comment.

The announcement of the “Swamp the Vote” initiative also preceded the Supreme Court of Wisconsin’s 4-3 decision on Friday to authorize the use of drop boxes for election ballots in the state.

The decision reversed the Court’s own prior decree prohibiting the use of drop boxes in 2022, because they were not specifically permitted under Wisconsin law.

But in the interim since the original decision, the ideological balance on the Court had shifted after conservative Justice Patience Roggensack retired and liberal Justice Janet Protasiewicz assumed her role.

In an issued statement, the Wisconsin Republican Party criticized the Court’s ruling.

“In a setback for both the separation of powers and public trust in our elections, the left-wing justices on the Supreme Court of Wisconsin have obeyed the demands of their out-of-state donors at the expense of Wisconsin. This latest attempt by leftist justices to placate their far-left backers will not go unanswered by voters,” Wisconsin GOP Chairman Brian Schimming said.

In a dissent written earlier this year, Supreme Court of Wisconsin Justice Rebecca Bradley said the 2024 iteration of the Court “found the [2022] decision politically inconvenient, and emboldened by a new makeup of the Court, this new majority embraces the opportunity to overturn.”

“The majority’s decision to do so will upset the status quo of election administration mere months before a presidential election and lead to chaos and confusion for Wisconsin voters and election officials,” Bradley said.