January 1, Wisconsin Judge Cracks Down On Voter Rolls

Wyatt’s Take

• A Wisconsin judge orders state election officers to verify all voters are citizens.
• The Elections Commission pushes back and files an appeal instead of enforcing citizen-only voting rules.
• Many Americans see this as another fight to protect fair elections from being watered down.

A Wisconsin judge says the state’s Elections Commission must finally check if everyone on its voter rolls is a U.S. citizen. Election officials are not allowed to let anyone register without first confirming they’re here legally.

“WEC has a plain and positive duty to verify U.S. citizenship of every person seeking to register to vote in Wisconsin. Further, WEC has a plain and positive duty to determine whether any non-citizens are currently listed as eligible voters on Wisconsin’s voter rolls,” Maxwell wrote in his 13-page ruling.

Instead of taking steps to fix the voter rolls, the left-leaning commission immediately appealed the court’s order. An email sent out by the commission even suggested more legal wrangling was ahead, keeping election integrity up in the air.

“Attorneys from the Wisconsin Department of Justice are analyzing the order over the weekend and further legal actions are likely,” the email informed.

One attorney for voters suing the commission said it’s strange that the state would fight against enforcing the law. The commission is made up of three Democrats and two Republican allies who have a history of dragging their feet on election law changes.

For years, this commission has been accused of not doing enough to keep the voter list clean. Plaintiffs in the latest lawsuit say their lawful votes are threatened if noncitizens can slip onto the rolls.

The judge did not buy the commission’s argument that state law didn’t require them to check if noncitizens are voting.

“Shockingly, the agency that Wisconsin’s citizens rely upon to ensure the integrity of our electoral process claims Wisconsin statutes ‘do not require the Commission to prevent non-U.S. citizens from appearing on the list or to remove non-U.S. citizens from the list,’” the judge wrote in his ruling.

The court made it clear: Only properly registered citizens belong on the list, and WEC must do its job to safeguard every legal vote.

Other state officials have said privacy laws block them from checking citizenship status against DMV records. But according to the ruling, verifying this information is necessary to make sure only lawful voters end up on the registration list. The judge said proof of citizenship must be equal to proof of residency, not just someone’s word.

This isn’t the first time Wisconsin voters, through new amendments, have tried to keep elections for citizens only. Even so, most Democrats in the state legislature and in Congress oppose requiring proof of citizenship at the polls, disappointing many Americans who want secure elections.

If Wisconsin’s elections aren’t safeguarded, the impact could stretch far beyond state lines.

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Wyatt Matters

Election integrity matters deeply for the honest, hardworking folks of Middle America. Trust in who votes shapes our voice and future, and that’s worth standing up for.