Republicans launch 'election integrity' events in Wisconsin

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Republican Party is launching a nine-city “election integrity” tour hitting battleground Wisconsin's most liberal cities, events that feature a conservative former state Supreme Court justice and that come less than two months before the state's August primary.

The events, which kick off Wednesday in La Crosse where there is an open U.S. House seat and the state's famously liberal capital city of Madison, are drawing blowback from those who say the round tables are intended to spread lies about what happened during the 2020 election won by President Joe Biden and to mislead voters ahead of November's midterm election.

Republican organizers say the events are part of the GOP's effort in battleground states to connect staff and volunteers, and to recruit poll workers, observers and voting deputies. The effort in Wisconsin is a continuation of the Republican election integrity operation that’s focused on 16 states, including Georgia, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Virginia, said RNC spokeswoman Emma Vaughn.

“We just think getting more citizens involved is a good thing,” said Mark Jefferson, executive director of the Wisconsin Republican Party. “The more eyes on elections is a good thing."

Wisconsin is a key presidential battleground state that Donald Trump narrowly won in 2016 and then lost by nearly the same margin in 2020. Supporters of Trump, who has repeatedly said the election was stolen but not produced evidence to prove it, have pushed to overturn Biden's win in Wisconsin, dismantle the state's bipartisan elections commission and enact a host of election law changes.

Republicans who control the Legislature have tried to pass a series of bills that would have made it more difficult to vote absentee in the state, but Democratic Gov. Tony Evers...