The WI Elections Commission is debating using its last $750K of CARES funding for a voter-education ad campaign leading up to the election.

Republicans Dean Knudson and Bob Spindell are against. Knudson doesn't want $ going to social media b/c they're not "neutral players."

Bob Spindell thinks the money should go to local clerks. (Divided evenly among Wisconsin's 1,850 municipalities, it would be less than $400 per clerk)

WEC Chair Ann Jacobs says an ad campaign is just about the only thing that makes sense this late in the election season.

A $750K ad buy could get up to 46.5 million digital impressions, according to WEC estimates.

Spindell says WEC should sit on the cash until after the election.

That move would effectively mean the money goes unused, because the CARES funding can only be used in 2020 to help with a federal election. (Nov. 3 is the final federal election this year)

To sum up: Robert Spindell, a Wisconsin Elections Commission member, would rather let $750K in free money go unused because he doesn't want to use social media ads to educate people about voting.

Knudson disingenuously claims social media ad buys on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram are widely unused.

He claims there's no "equity" and that the ad buys would miss a significant portion of Wisconsin residents, even though 79% of people are on social media.

Now Knudson doesn't want the money to go to newspapers either, because USA Today, "well, they're not neutral."

They finally agree upon how to use the money: A reimbursement program for counties to receive up to $10,000 after the election.

Elections Commission administrator Meagan Wolfe did not seem happy, as this will add significant extra post-election work.