MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The head of Wisconsin’s nonpartisan elections board is defending the agency from Republicans who want to do away with it. Government Accountability Board director Kevin Kennedy testified Thursday before the Legislature’s Audit Committee. He says criticisms being made of the GAB are “outsized, unreasonable and uncivil.” But Republican critics pointed to parts of an August audit that find problems with how the agency handled about 1,900 complaints filed with the board between 2010 and 2013. Also on Thursday an Assembly committee planned to vote on a fast-tracked bill that would replace the nonpartisan board with two separate commissions to deal with elections and ethics. They would be led by Republican and Democratic appointees. The full Assembly plans to vote on that measure Tuesday.
