MILWAUKEE — The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty has called on the U.S. Department of Justice to deepen its scrutiny of the Wisconsin Elections Commission’s voter registration practices, citing potential violations of federal law.

In a letter sent to the DOJ, WILL outlined concerns about the commission’s maintenance of the statewide voter registration list, suggesting follow-up questions to address what it calls systemic failures. The move comes after the DOJ recently queried the commission about its compliance with federal voter registration laws, prompting a response from the state agency.

“Even before WILL’s comprehensive review of the 2020 election, WILL has monitored WEC’s administration of our elections and taken action to correct problems,” said Lucas Vebber, WILL’s deputy counsel. “Whether it’s WEC’s failure to properly maintain the statewide voter registration list, the use of drop boxes, the use of an unlawful voter registration form, the use of mobile voting vans, we have seen a troubling pattern with how WEC administers elections – sometimes outside the scope of state and federal law. We hope our message to the USDOJ will help bring much-needed attention to this important issue.”

WILL’s letter highlights several issues, including inconsistencies in how the commission matches voter registration data with Department of Motor Vehicles records. Federal and state laws require such cross-checks to verify the authenticity of registrations, but WILL claims the process varies depending on whether registrations are submitted online, by mail, or in person, potentially allowing fraudulent entries to go unchecked.

The group also questioned why ineligible voters remain in the commission’s database, marked as “inactive” rather than removed. WILL argues this practice raises concerns about how and when these voters could be reactivated, potentially compromising election integrity. Additionally, the letter points to Wisconsin’s apparent failure to maintain its voter list in a uniform and nondiscriminatory manner, as required by federal law.

WILL further noted the commission’s lack of action to identify non-citizens on the voter rolls, despite a recent state constitutional amendment banning non-citizen voting. The group urged the DOJ to press the commission on whether it conducts audits to address this issue.

For more details, visit the press release at will-law.org and the letter to the DOJ.