There could be a scramble
ahead of 2026 elections
in Wisconsin, after a
Waukesha County Circuit
Court ruling
that directs
the Wisconsin Elections Commissi
to verify
whether people
registered to vote
are U.S. citizens.
Your commission told us
when we did some
reporting on this
that there were
only three non-citizens
that have been referred
for prosecution
since 2019.
Is this a solution in
search of a problem then?
I don't doubt that.
The issue of
non-citizens voting
is a very minor one.
It doesn't happen
very often.
Just because something
in fact
doesn't happen
on a widespread
basis doesn't mean
that it's not important
for us to
address the perception
to instill public confidence
in the validity
of our elections.
The Waukesha judge
put on hold his ruling
that local clerks cannot
register new voters
without proof
of citizenship.
But how would
citizenship be proved?
I don't think
it's a good
look to tell people
you can't register
especially if we have
an opportunity
to later verify.
I think that it is
a challenge
because some of
our identifications
that we
provided to citizens
are also provided
to non-citizens.
I think it
is more incumbent
on the authorities
the Department of Transportation
the Elections Commission
working with local clerks
to try to identify people
who might not
be citizens or are
in fact not citizens
and take remedial action.