It's time to take partisanship out of the State Elections Board. The recent gubernatorial election season proves it.

Twice now in just a few months, Democratic-controlled majorities on the SEB have tried to hobble the state's two Republican challengers, most recently by slapping an unusual and questionable fine against Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker.

At the very least, it doesn't pass the partisan smell test. It's time to make the Elections Board an independent body that is not dominated by partisan appointees from the governor, political parties and legislative leaders. It's hardly the first time this idea has been raised, but it's time to get it done. Mike Ellis' idea in the state Senate for a Government Accountability Board that merges the Ethics and Elections boards comes close but still doesn't take partisan appointees completely out of the equation.

When Walker's campaign team decried the SEB's recent $5,000 slam against his campaign for not putting a political disclaimer on some automated phone calls about the Milwaukee County budget, the campaign had a good point. Lacking a political disclaimer is one of the most common and minor types of campaign violations and often results in no penalty at all.

Of course, some people who are political appointees do vote their conscience. It's unfair to assume they never do. Not everyone is going to make decisions in a partisan manner simply because they don't share a political party with the person under judgment.

But at the very least, the State Elections Board has a perception problem and probably worse. And with the ability to do real damage to a campaign in election season, it's become clear that change is needed -- now.

When a Democratic aligned attorney, Michael Maistelman, who has previously appeared before the Elections Board on behalf of Gov. Jim Doyle and Doyle's campaign, files a complaint against a top Republican gubernatorial candidate (Walker), at the behest of two county supervisors who are constant Walker critics, and then the Democratic appointees on the board vote to lodge an unusual fine against the Republican candidate -- it just doesn't pass the smell test.

It's not the first time a Democratic majority on the board has tried to whack the knees of a top Republican gubernatorial candidate.

In a shrewd move, Republican Congressman Mark Green last January moved his federal war chest over to his state campaign account just one day before the Democratic-controlled State Elections Board was going to decide on an emergency rule to bar him from transferring the federal money. So then the SEB passed another rule to try to bar Green from spending all of it. The vote was 5-4, and, as in the Walker situation, split on party lines. Even the nonpartisan executive director of the board, Kevin Kennedy, was quoted in the newspaper as saying he wasn't sure what the emergency was (I can answer that question: Green was going to mount a serious challenge against Doyle).

The SEB changed a practice in place for more than two decades. A legislative committee controlled by Republicans later blocked the board's rule, a move that also has the perception of partisanship.

The Election Board's attempt to stop Green from using the $1.3 million in federal campaign monies could have been the deciding factor in the state's top 2006 election had the SEB been successful. If Green wins the primary -- and the general election -- the fact he got to use the money and thus came closer to leveling the playing field against an incredibly well-financed incumbent will stand as the No.1 most important development in the contest.

It could be said then that the election was decided on the day he moved the money over to his state account. Green's ability to use the money simply leveled the financial playing field between him and Doyle -- not completely, but more so.

And guess who was quoted in the paper bashing the Green transfer that circumvented the emergency rule? Maistelman.

In the current situation with Walker, the headlines on the fine came at a bad time for the Milwaukee candidate, who has been fending off a series of Democratic attacks this summer.

When partisan appointees dominate the SEB, you're never going to be able to take politics out of decisions, especially in a heated contest like the Wisconsin gubernatorial race. It would be asking too much of the appointees. And, in the cases where they do make the right decision against a political opponent, it means that decision will always be clouded by perceptions of partisanship.

SEB Executive Director Kennedy has said before that Wisconsin is one of only 10 states with a nonpartisan Election Board staff. While that's true, the board is partisan. It's time to make the Elections Board nonpartisan, too.

Jessica McBride, a former Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reporter married to Waukesha County DA Paul Bucher -- a Republican candidate for state attorney general -- teaches journalism at UW-Milwaukee and writes a blog.

The opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect the opinions of OnMilwaukee.com, its advertisers or editorial staff.

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