MADISON — Republicans and Democrats alike Monday ripped into Wisconsin’s partisan review of the 2020 election, saying it was a baseless exercise that would needlessly damage faith in democracy.

State Sen. Kathy Bernier, a Republican from Lake Hallie who leads the Senate Elections Committee, said the review by former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman is firing up people who don’t understand elections.

“Mr. Gableman is coming to my county and I will attend that meeting along with my concealed carry permit, to be perfectly honest, because it keeps jazzing up the people who think they know what they’re talking about — and they don’t,” Bernier said.

Bernier, who oversaw elections for 12 years as Chippewa County clerk, said Republicans are reacting to political pressure from former President Donald Trump. Their constant complaints about the election could ultimately hurt Republicans if they don’t believe results can be trusted, she said. 

“And so I think my advice would be to have Mr. Gableman wrap up sooner rather than later, because the longer we keep this up, the more harm … we’re going to do for Republicans,” she said. 

Bernier was joined at a 90-minute panel discussion in the state Capitol by Ben Ginsberg, who spent nearly four decades representing Republicans in election disputes, and Bob Bauer, the White House counsel during Barack Obama’s presidency.

Ginsberg agreed with Bernier’s assessment, saying attacks on the election will hurt Republicans in the long run because their voters will be less likely to cast ballots if they think elections are rigged.

“There is a need for an off ramp,” Ginsberg said. 

Joe Biden beat Trump by nearly 21,000 votes in Wisconsin. Recounts and court rulings have confirmed his victory. A legislative audit and a study by a conservative group turned up no evidence that would question the results. 

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos of Rochester hired Gableman this summer to conduct his own review of the election. His work is expected to cost taxpayers about $675,000. 

Gableman last year claimed without evidence that the election was stolen. More recently, he said he does “not have a comprehensive understanding or even any understanding of how elections work.”

Bauer said Gableman’s comments — “and the partisan context in which he received this assignment” — show Gableman is not right for the job. 

Ginsberg and Bauer this year formed the Election Official Legal Defense Network to provide legal help to election workers who face challenges over how they perform their duties.

Their presence put national attention on what’s happening in Wisconsin. But it was Bernier who offered some of the most blunt assessments of what’s happening in her state. 

“This is a charade,” she said. “There’s a simple explanation for almost every single thing that people accuse election officials of doing.”

At another point, she said: “These made-up things that people do to jazz up the base is just despicable and I don’t think any elected legislator should ever play that game.”

Some Republicans have called for the resignations of members of the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission and its nonpartisan director, Meagan Wolfe. Wolfe and the commissioners have said they plan on staying on the job. 

Ginsberg, Bauer and Bernier and dozens of election professionals from around the country have backed Wolfe. 

The commission has come under fire because last year it told clerks to overlook a law requiring them to dispatch poll workers known as special voting deputies to nursing homes to assist residents with voting. The commission told clerks to send absentee ballots to the residents because nursing homes weren’t accepting visitors during the coronavirus pandemic. 

Commissioners have said they issued the directive because they wanted to make sure the elderly could vote and remain safe.

The commission consists of three Republicans and three Democrats. It unanimously adopted the nursing home policy for the April 2020 election. It kept it in place for subsequent elections on 5-1 votes, with Republican Bob Spindell dissenting. 

Racine County Sheriff Chris Schmaling and some other Republicans have called for charging the five commissioners with felonies. Among those backing charges are Vos, who appointed former state Rep. Dean Knudson to the commission. 

Racine County District Attorney Patricia Hanson has not said if she would charge anyone. 

Wisconsin election officials have faced a string of threats over the last year over how they did their jobs.

For instance, people this year have threatened to hang, shoot or jail Claire Woodall-Vogg, the director of the Milwaukee Election Commission. 

Similarly, people anonymously posted threats to Madison City Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl last year in response to an article on the Gateway Pundit, a right-wing website that frequently traffics in conspiracy theories. 

Law enforcement was notified of the threats to Woodall-Vogg and Witzel-Behl, according to emails released under the state’s open records law. 

Contact Patrick Marley at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @patrickdmarley.