In March of 2021, Wisconsin Open Records Act (Wisconsin Statutes $19.31, et seq.) requests relating to Wisconsin election administration and Wisconsin legislative hearing
testimony relating to election administration, revealed to the Complainants that Racine officials, responsible for the election process and procedures, adopted and implemented private corporate conditions, including direct corporate and corporate employee engagement
in the administration of the general election.
2 Moreover, Complainants found that Racine Mayor Cory Mason, in his official capacity as Mayor, recruited four other cities—Milwaukee, Madison, Kenosha and Green Bay—to place the same corporate conditions on their election administration. The five cities and the private corporations began to refer to themselves as the “Wisconsin Five."
The State Legislature never gave municipalities the authority to adopt or accept private corporate conditions affecting existing state election laws.