A University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee political scientist has a strong word for far-right Republicans pushing for the right of states to secede from the Union: "traitorous."

At the Wisconsin Republican Party’s annual convention next month, members will vote on whether the GOP “supports legislation that upholds Wisconsin’s right, under extreme circumstances, to secede.”

“Efforts to secede are an effort to overthrow the Constitution of the U.S. and frankly, can be called a traitorous activity,” said Mordecai Lee, a professor of governmental affairs.

“I know that sounds strong, and I know we’re supposed to be gentle about everybody having freedom of speech, and I realize that some people don’t take this seriously and they think this is something of a joke about some crackpot, radical right, sort of ‘flat-earther’ concept, but this is very serious,” he said Thursday.

Lee said the U.S. Constitution doesn't permit secession, and that the only way to proceed toward such a maneuver is through a constitutional amendment that’s passed by Congress and ratified by the states.

According to Lee, a very small segment of the population believes that the federal government is illegitimate, unconstitutional and has stripped them of their liberties. Therefore, they feel like they have a right to take up arms against the government. It’s a concept, he said, that has broken out into the open in recent years and needs to be addressed seriously despite coming from the far fringe.

The state Republican proposal has survived a couple of procedural party votes and will now be taken up for final approval by the full delegation.

“People will be watching this vote rather closely,” said Lee. “I think it will identify that there is a very small strand of contemporary Wisconsin Republican politics that is going over the edge, and I suspect that this will be voted down overwhelmingly and we’ll never hear it again.”

Gov. Scott Walker and the establishment of the Republican party have distanced themselves from the resolution.

“They realize the reality of it, that this is -- if you’ll pardon me -- a batty idea,” said Lee.

The state Republican Party convention is scheduled for May 2 to May 4 in Milwaukee.