In 2021, in Wisconsin, Racine County Sheriff Chris Schamling recommended criminal charges against five members of the state’s Elections Commission, yet refused to investigate a resident who illegally requested multiple absentee ballots. Schamling is a member of the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, a group that has worked to undermine election administration across the country, and his office routinely coordinates with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
As the clerk of Macomb County, Michigan, in 2021, Anthony Forlini pursued a forensic audit of the county’s election server based on debunked election fraud claims, and in 2022 he hired a known election denier and “Stop the Steal” agitator to serve as poll recruiter. He is currently running for Michigan secretary of state in the Republican primary.
With all the coverage of Trump, his administration, and the MAGA faithful using every disingenuous and borderline illegal tactic to tilt future elections, not nearly enough of a spotlight is being shined on those who already hold the power to do so at the local level—and who have demonstrated, on the record, that they will. With one of them finally breaking through to the national conversation, now is the moment to widen the frame.
