The report said loopholes in Wisconsin's election law pose serious risks to the integrity of the state's elections.
More than 140,000 Wisconsinites could vote in the 2024 election without providing proof of identity by self-reporting themselves as “indefinitely detained,” according to a new report from the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty. The loophole allows voters to receive absentee ballots indefinitely without showing identification.
The “indefinitely held” exception has mushroomed since about 66,000 voters registered in this capacity in 2016. In 2020, during the pandemic, 265,979 people registered under the exception after clerks in Democratic strongholds encouraged voters to use a loophole to get around Wisconsin's voter ID requirements, a practice later unanimously condemned by the Supreme Court.
Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump in the state by just 20,000 votes, an increase of about 48,000 votes going to Democrats since Trump won the state in 2016.
“Confidence in elections remains dangerously low in Wisconsin and across the nation,” WILL Research Director Will Flanders said in a statement. “Voter ID is a popular and well-implemented way to keep elections secure and fraud-free, and while the Governor has refused to fix this loophole since 2020, local election clerks should work to resolve it where possible.”
Wisconsin's voter ID law requires you to show ID when you vote in most cases, but simply registering to vote doesn't require ID.
The “indefinite detention” exception would create a loophole that would allow voters to avoid having to show identification.
“Indefinite stay-at-home measures were designed to give voting opportunities to elderly, sick and people who are physically unable to get to a polling station,” added WILL policy director Kyle Koenen. “Though designed with the best of intentions, as our report shows, the system has some important flaws that need to be addressed.”
State law requires voters to be removed from the indefinitely held list under certain circumstances. According to WILL, “If a voter does not return their absentee ballot after receiving it, the city clerk must inform them that they will be removed from the absentee mailing list unless they renew their application within 30 days. Voters can also be removed at their own request or if reliable information indicates they are no longer eligible (such as if the voter voted in person).”
But WILL argues that not all counties are following state law, and the number of voters taking advantage of the exemption remains at about 144,347.
With less than two months to go until Election Day, polls show President Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are neck and neck in Wisconsin.
Bradley Jay is Capitol Hill correspondent for Breitbart News. Follow him on X/Twitter. translation:.
