Alleged voter intimidation and voter rolls lawsuits in Wisconsin as election nears

A Wisconsin resident votes during the state’s primary election at a polling place April 2, 2024, in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Scott Olson | Getty Images)

Voting rights advocates across the state are warning of efforts to intimidate voters, while right-wing groups have filed lawsuits trying to force people to remove voter rolls.

With just 20 days until Election Day, more than 573,000 people have already requested absentee ballots and 267,524 of those ballots have been returned. In-person absentee voting will open next Tuesday, with locations and times set by local election officials.

Wednesday was the deadline to register to vote online or by mail – with mail-in registration forms required to be postmarked by October 16. Voters can still register in person at the city clerk’s office or at the polls on Election Day.

Voting rights advocates on Tuesday called on the state and federal Justice Departments to investigate reports that thousands of voters received text messages that could be considered voter intimidation. The messages, which appear to have targeted young voters, warn recipients that anyone who votes in Wisconsin while not eligible could be punished with fines of up to $10,000 and $3,000. 5 years of imprisonment.

In a state with elections as close as Wisconsin, college-age voters can often play a major role in deciding who wins. Students, even if they come from another state, have the right to vote in Wisconsin elections.

“Many students and other young voters fear criminal prosecution if they register and exercise their right to vote – because of a malicious and inaccurate text sent by an anonymous party,” wrote the League of Women Voters from Wisconsin in a letter. on messages.

At a press conference Wednesday, Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) Administrator Meagan Wolfe said the commission is aware of third-party communications that could be considered intimidating. She said voters should look to official sources of information to decide whether they are eligible to vote.

“Election officials continue to receive reports from voters who received these third-party communications, such as text messages that they described as intimidating or containing false information,” she said. “Unfortunately, many voters who receive these types of communications during the election period, and sometimes they can be misleading, and to avoid being misled by any sort of communication that may come from a third party to a voter, voters should make sure to get their election information from an official source (For more information, visit Wisconsin’s. My Vote website.)

During the news conference, Wolfe also provided an update on the statewide use of mail-in ballot drop boxes, which were declared legal by the state Supreme Court earlier this year after a previous judicial majority prohibited their use. Wolfe said local workers have reported to the WEC that this year in Wisconsin, at least 78 drop boxes are in use, a sharp drop from the more than 500 that were used in the 2020 election and earlier before that Republicans do not turn against them for baseless allegations of fraud.

Drop boxes remained a major issue in this year’s elections, with Wausau’s mayor drawing criticism after removing the city’s drop box without permission from the local election clerk.

The 78 boxes mean fewer than 50 communities across the state are using them, as Madison and Milwaukee have a total of 14 drop boxes available in the two cities.

“The decision whether or not to have drop boxes, as our state Supreme Court has said, is a decision that is up to the municipal clerk, and like any decision he makes for his community, he must weigh the considerations or the needs of its local community, and so I will not undermine any of the decisions that have been made by our city clerks, because they are making a decision for their community and for the best needs of their community,” Wolfe said.

As Republicans continue to attack the voting system in Wisconsin and across the country, two lawsuits have been filed attempting to make last-minute changes to the voter registration system.

One of the lawsuits, filed by Daniel Eastman, an attorney involved in former President Donald Trump’s legal battle to overturn the results of the 2020 election, alleges that more than 140,000 voters on the registration list of voters are ineligible due to cross-checks with the U.S. Postal Service. the data shows they do not live at the address where they are registered to vote. The lawsuit says more than 50,000 of those listings are in Milwaukee.

Election officials use USPS data to maintain voter rolls, but the data has a high error rate and is usually confirmed by other sources.

The lawsuit asks the Milwaukee Election Commission to send postcards to all voters found in the data to confirm whether they have moved and asks the WEC to ask all other state employees to do the same.

The second lawsuit alleges there is a “legitimate concern” that state and local election officials are activating inactive voter registrations and asks a Marinette County judge to order the WEC not to activate any voter registrations .

It is generally unlikely that courts will issue rulings affecting voting so soon after an election. Clerks use various sources of information, including data from a national coalition of states that track when people move or die in other states, to keep voter rolls up to date.