Lead Elections Specialist Diane Lowe has retired from the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) after 25 years of state service. Diane began her career in elections with the former State Elections Board, worked for the Government Accountability Board throughout its existence and transitioned to the WEC in 2016. She has been responsible for the drafting of myriad procedural documents, forms, ballot templates and election notices throughout her tenure. She also assisted countless clerks, voters, and candidates over the years with navigating the elections statutes and administrative code. She developed comprehensible training materials, conducted municipal clerk and chief inspector training classes across the state and personally met thousands of election officials. She was instrumental in implementing new procedures due to changes in federal and state law and in developing or amending procedures due to court decisions.
Diane has an encyclopedic knowledge of Wisconsin election law and administrative procedures that will be impossible to replace. Her attention to detail and dedication to serving Wisconsin voters and election officials will also be missed. Diane never shied away from attempting to outline even the most complex areas of election law and continued to improve guidance on complicated procedures such as counting write-in votes. The instructions she developed have served as the backbone for how elections have been run in Wisconsin for the last 25 years and these contributions will continue to be Diane’s legacy.
Election officials, voters and candidates across the state will miss Diane and her candor. WEC staff will also miss her quick wit, love of language and willingness to, sometimes begrudgingly, answer all of our questions. Diane’s retirement marks the end of a remarkable tenure that the agency will have difficulty replicating. Her work ethic was always second to none and her dedication to the mission of the agency was admirable. Diane could always be found at her desk working after hours editing a document, reviewing a ballot proof, drafting an email, reviewing nomination papers or doing whatever else was needed to get the job done. Diane’s last day in the office was July 31, 2020.
We would like to publicly thank Diane for her service and wish her well in her new endeavors. We hope she enjoys a long and relaxing retirement.