Governor Walker signs law eliminating elections board

MADISON, Wis. – Republican Gov. Scott Walker has signed a bill that eliminates Wisconsin's nonpartisan state elections board.

Rep. Dean Knudson, who sponsored the legislation, said in a tweet Wednesday that Walker had signed the bill privately. Walker's office didn't immediately respond to messages from The Associated Press.

The law does away with the Government Accountability Board, an agency run by retired nonpartisan judges to oversee elections and ethics laws. The board will be replaced with two commissions: one to oversee elections, the other ethics. Both new commissions will be made up of partisan appointees, although the ethics panel will have two retired judges.

It wasn't immediately clear whether Walker had signed another closely watched bill to loosen some campaign finance restrictions.