MADISON, WI (WSAU) – The Wisconsin State Supreme Court ruled Friday that voters who might have moved away should not be removed from the rolls.
The ruling impacts about 69,000 people across the state who may no longer live in Wisconsin.
The court’s 5-2 riling says keeping voter rolls up-to-date is the function of local election officials, not the state’s elections commission.
The case dates back to 2019, when there were more than 200,000 “inactive” voters on the state’s approved voting list. Names were flagged for removal if they hadn’t voted in recent elections and if they hadn’t returned a postcard that was mailed to their most recent address. Some voters have since updated their voting records, or have confirmed that they now live out-of-state. The names that remain on the inactive list haven’t cast ballots since 2016.
Lower courts had issued split rulings on the case. At one point the Wisconsin Elections Commission was ordered to remove the names, but the WEC appealed before taking any action.
State Republicans had argued in favor of purging the names as an election integrity issue. They argue that any voters who were improperly removed could remain eligible by re-registering at their polling place on Election Day.
