Fitzgerald said he anticipates a closer look at the audit's recommendations at an upcoming hearing.

Kennedy said his agency welcomed the evaluation.

"LAB found no problems with the GAB’s financial accounting or spending, and called for no significant changes regarding the core duties and performance of the Board or its staff," Kennedy said in a statement. "Given the broad scope of the audit we are pleased with the limited exceptions noted in the report. We look forward to implementing the LAB recommendations to improve the agency’s effectiveness."

Kennedy said "extraordinary demands" have been placed on the agency in the last several years and its prioritization of responsibilities has adjusted accordingly.

Clearing a backlog on administrative rules is a priority the coming year, Kennedy said, as is creating a more comprehensive tracking system for complaints and delivering better reports to the board.

Kennedy said the GAB is committed to bringing itself into full statutory compliance and to further improving its operations.

"By every objective measure that has been published since the Board’s inception, Wisconsin is a national leader in clean, fair and open elections, ethics, campaign finances and lobbying. This is no accident. It is a Wisconsin tradition: the result of decades of hard and thoughtful work by citizens, lawmakers and state and local election officials," Kennedy said. "The LAB’s review of the last four years provides even more objective evidence of that success and the Board’s role in continuing that tradition."

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