Just weeks before the Novemeber 2024 election, three individuals filed a lawsuit asking a court to initiate an improper purge of Milwaukee voters from the voter rolls.
The ACLU, ACLU of Wisconsin, and Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP intervened on behalf of nonprofit organizations Black Leaders Organizing for Communities, Souls to the Polls, and WISDOM to protect voters from being purged based on unreliable information. Learn more about this case.
We also sent open records requests to 35 municipal clerks throughout the state, asking for records about voter registration challenges they received and how they were resolved.
Under state law, there are legitimate processes by which a registered voter may have their voter registration challenged by another voter, but the processes require adherence to strict rules. If municipalities have not been following those rules, it is imperative that impacted voters be notified and have their registrations resolved before it is too late.
We requested the following information:
- Any records or copies of affidavits submitted from January 1, 2024, to present;
- Any records indicating a decision made by the municipal clerk on any affidavits from January 1, 2024, to present;
- Any records of communications sent to any electors regarding a challenge to their voter registration or the clerk's decision on such challenge between January 1, 2024, to present;
- Any records of requests made from January 1, 2024, to present verifying the residency of any voters due to alleged changes of address based on United States Postal Service data or otherwise,
- Any records showing the internal policies and procedures for handling such challenges to elector registration.
