This is the view election observers have of early voting from a designated area at Green Bay City Hall Nov. 2, 2022. PC: Fox 11 Online
GREEN BAY, WI (WATQ-WLUK) — A disorderly conduct citation filed by Green Bay Police against an election observer was overturned by a judge, who called the city’s action “retaliatory.”
Janet Angus was issued the citation after an April 5, 2022 incident at City Hall, where she called out Clerk Celestine Jeffreys for allegedly improperly accepting an absentee ballot. Angus was subsequently convicted in Municipal Court, and fined $396.
She appealed to the circuit court. On Friday, after testimony and a review of video, Judge Tammy Jo Hock overturned the conviction.
“I find that the City has not met its burden with regard to Miss Angus being disorderly, and so I’m going to grant the motion, and this citation will be dismissed. I don’t have to address the other concerns and arguments that are made about election integrity because I don’t find that Miss Angus’ behavior was disorderly, but I will observe that it does appear that this municipal citation was retaliatory due to the Wisconsin Elections complaint that was filed,” the judge said, according to the transcript.
According to a police report related to the incident, the city contacted the police department about a month after the April 5 incident to conduct an investigation.
Between the incident and the city’s request for a police investigation, Angus filed a complaint with the Wisconsin Elections Commission about what she observed at City Hall.
In December 2023, the Wisconsin Elections Commission ruled Jeffreys likely violated state law for the incident Angus questioned and filed the complaint about. Jeffreys has previously said her office changed its policy for accepting absentee ballots not long after the April 2022 incident to conform to the policy.
Her attorney, Erick Kaardal, said in a statement:
The Brown County Circuit Court directed verdict is a learning moment. Nationwide, the progressives are using prosecution and litigation for political objectives, to cancel election integrity, and to shut up political opponents. They call it “lawfare”. But, it is Tyranny, really. In response to Green Bay’s tyranny, Ms. Angus, WVA and others had the courage to fight back. And we won! Nationwide, we must combat this tyranny in the same, good way, as we did in Green Bay.
The incident is one of several in recent years related to Green Bay’s handling of elections. Other issues included a challenge to its acceptance of grants for administering elections — which the city won — a challenge to access for election observers and the reduction in the number of polling places to just two in April 2020.
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