(The Center Square) – Wisconsin is part of one of four lawsuits challenging President Donald Trump’s election executive order, despite the state being exempt from part of it.
Attorney General Josh Kaul joined 18 other Democratic attorneys general in suing the Trump Administration over the president’s order to require proof of U.S. citizenship, among other things, in federal elections.
“Within 30 days of the date of this order, the Election Assistance Commission shall take appropriate action to require, in its national mail voter registration form…documentary proof of United States citizenship, [and] a State or local official to record on the form the type of document that the applicant presented as documentary proof of United States citizenship.” the president wrote in his March 25 order.
A birth certificate is not listed in the order as something to establish proof of citizenship.
The AGs wrote in their lawsuit that the president’s executive order would “effectively preclude Plaintiff States from administering vote-by-mail systems that permit voters to make their choices by Election Day, upending processes that accommodate more voters, decrease obstacles, and increase voter participation.”
But not in Wisconsin.
A Waukesha County judge is blocking the Wisconsin Elections Commission from using the federal voter registration form the president wants used.
Judge Michael Maxwell ruled in September 2023 that Wisconsin cannot use the form because it does not ask all of the questions required by state election registration laws. Specifically, the national form doesn’t ask about residency or a criminal history. Wisconsin law requires answers to both in order to vote. The form also asks for information that Wisconsin law does not require.
The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty filed the suit back in 2022.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission stopped using the national form after the ruling and has attempted to revive its use.
Kaul did not say anything about the ruling against the registration for when he signed on to the lawsuit.
