Wisconsin judge orders state election officials to verify voters' US citizenship

A Wisconsin judge has ordered state election officials to verify voters' U.S. citizenship by February – in a lawsuit that began before the 2024 presidential election.

Waukesha County Circuit Judge Michael Maxwell on Friday ordered the Wisconsin Elections Commission to review the state's voter rolls by the Feb. 18 spring primary election to determine whether any non-U.S. citizens are registered to vote, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Monday. 

Maxwell also ruled that election officials must verify the U.S. citizenship of any new registrants.

WEC must verify citizenship by comparing voter registration information to state Department of Transportation files or other state records, according to the court order. However, the order didn't specify how the commission would verify voters' citizenship who don't have a driver's license.

Wisconsin state law requires voters to attest their U.S. citizenship, but doesn't require election officials to obtain proof of it, according to the Sentinel.

"This ends the system where voters simply affirm citizenship. A BIG win for election integrity," Wisconsin GOP Rep. Tom Tiffany, who is running for governor in 2026, posted on X on Saturday, 

A resident and conservative lawyers filed the lawsuit in the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election.

The state has 3.6 million registered voters.

Maxwell said that WEC is "violating state and federal statutes by maintaining an election system that potentially allows individuals on to the voter rolls who may not be lawfully entitled to cast a vote in Wisconsin."

The Wisconsin Department of Justice on Monday asked Maxwell to stay his order, indicating that it will appeal the ruling on behalf of WEC.

WEC deputy administrator Robert Kehoe said in a separate court filing that making technical changes to follow the order wouldn't be complete in time for the spring primary election.

"The typical development cycle for even the most minor changes generally requires two to three months of work under ideal conditions, while major changes typically require eight to twelve months to complete," Kehoe said.

Don Millis, a Republican WEC commissioner, said he supports verifying voters' citizenship but has concerns about whether the commission can accomplish the task by February.

Millis said he didn't support an argument from state attorneys representing WEC that claimed state election laws "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.”

"To me, that is more than a bad look," Millis said. "It is inconceivable to argue that the commission does not have a duty to remove noncitizens from the voter rolls."

Tiffany posted on X on Tuesday, "Wisconsinites overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment 70-30 to ban noncitizen voting last year. But now, Democrat AG Josh Kaul is trying to STOP a judge’s ruling that requires proof of citizenship to vote. He’s putting illegal aliens ahead of election integrity."