Kenosha election bribery complaint filed; 'not about' changing results

An election bribery complaint has been filed against Kenosha's mayor and a former city clerk.

KENOSHA, Wis. - An election bribery complaint has been filed against Kenosha's mayor and a former city clerk.

The complaint states a group with ties to Facebook's CEO had too much influence in the voting process in five metropolitan areas, including Kenosha, during the 2020 presidential election.

"It’s not about changing any election results," said Erick Kaardal, special counsel for the Thomas More Society. "Wisconsin law doesn’t allow that, but what it does allow is these complaints to be filed so that the election official illegalities are corrected – they don’t happen again."

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Kaardal said the mayor and former clerk did not follow election law properly. So, he decided to file a bribery complaint with the Wisconsin Elections Commission.

"They got to stop taking directions from private parties who give them money to target neighborhoods to get out the vote," Kaardal said.

Kenosha is one of five cities that shared millions of dollars in grant money in 2020. It came from a group called the Center for Tech and Civic Life, which has ties to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

"Kenosha has to stop using illegal drop boxes. They knew what the law was before the 2020 election, and they took the Center for Tech and Civic Life money and purchased the absentee ballot drop boxes and used them anyway," said Kaardal.

Earlier this month, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled drop boxes will not be allowed during the upcoming April general election. The court is still weighing the overall legality of drop boxes.

Ballot drop box

Kaardal has filed similar complaints in Brown, Dane, Milwaukee and Racine counties. In the past, a judge found nothing in state law to prohibit the cities being awarded the money.

On Thursday, the Wisconsin State Assembly voted on a bill that would ban private grants to fund local elections.

State Rep. Mark Spreitzer, D-Beloit, accused republicans of obsessing over the 2020 election and making it harder for people to vote.

A representative for the city of Kenosha told FOX6, "the City of Kenosha has not been served any such complaint at this time so we would be unable to comment."

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