Federal prosecutors are looking into invalid electoral college votes from seven states.Wisconsin is included in the investigation.In a presidential year, there are 10 Democratic electors and 10 Republican electors in the state. However, Wisconsin is a "winner take all" situation, where the legislature will only certify one group to send their votes to congress.In 2020 it was the Democratic electors following a close race. President Joe Biden had won the popular vote in the state.Those 10 certified Democratic electors sent their votes for Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.However, on the same date at an undisclosed location, the 10 Republican electors met separately, to send their votes in for former President Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence.Watchdog group American Oversight obtained those documents, showing the Republican electors signed and sent their votes despite the election outcome.The Republican electors argued they needed to send theirs in case the court overturned the election results.In a statement sent to WISN 12, Republican Party of Wisconsin Chairman Paul Farrow said, "The actions of the Republican electors were done in accordance with precedent, and are consistent with what Democrats were urged to do by supporters — including a Harvard law professor — had the roles been reversed. Democrats’ efforts to drum up political theater over a simple procedure are nothing more than a desperate attempt to divert attention from their record as they face the electorate in 2022."The party further explained that if Trump had ended up winning the close race, the Republican electors would have needed to meet on the same date in the same location for the results to be certified. Spokespeople told WISN 12 the meeting was held at the advice of legal counsel, just in case the Trump campaign's legal efforts resulted in the campaign’s favor.So far it has not, and Congress did not accept the GOP votes.The idea was based on a situation that occurred in 1960 when the state of Hawaii initially had Richard Nixon winning over President John F. Kennedy. The vote was close, and came down to a recount. During the recount, the certified Republican electors and unofficial Democrat electors met to sign and send in their votes.Once the recount results came back, Kennedy was the winner, and Hawaii was able to award its votes to him. However, a Madison-based law firm claims the move could result in fraud, and wants to prevent the possibility in the future."The folks who did this may not have succeeded in fooling congress about what Wisconsin's votes were supposed to be, but that doesn't mean that they couldn't have succeeded," said Mel Barnes, staff counsel at Law Forward. "Our democracy in Wisconsin and nationally really runs on the trust of the people, and on our norms, on people following the law."Law Forward pushed for the investigation to start nearly a year ago."I'm glad to see that this is getting the attention and serious scrutiny that it deserves at both the state and federal level," Barnes told WISN 12.She said the most important outcome of the potential investigation is to ensure it won't happen again.Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul also weighed in, telling WISN 12 in a statement, "I believe it's critical that the federal government fully investigates and prosecutes any unlawful actions in furtherance of any seditious conspiracy."The other states involved in similar electoral vote inconsistencies are Georgia, Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada and New Mexico.