The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL), filed a lawsuit against the Wisconsin Election Commission (WEC) Wednesday claiming that the WEC violated state law when it failed to deactivate approximately 234,000 voters. 

These voters had been flagged as possibly relocated based on records from the Department of Motor Vehicles and the US Postal Service. At issue is a Wisconsin law that requires the WEC to contact possible movers by mail and if, “the elector no longer resides in the municipality or fails to apply for continuation of registration within 30 days of the date the notice is mailed, the clerk or board of elections commissioners shall change the elector’s registration from eligible to ineligible status.”

The lawsuit alleges that the WEC violated this statute when they decided in June to wait for 12 to 24 months before making voters who fail to respond to the mailers ineligible. Prior to filing the lawsuit, WILL filed a complaint based on the same allegations. The WEC dismissed this complaint in October because it was not filed in a timely manner. In response to the complaint, WEC announced that it was confident it was complying with Wisconsin law and that the decision to delay deactivation was based on lessons learned from the 2017 mailer process.

Speaking to reporters after a bill signing, Democratic Governor Tony Evans expressed hope that the lawsuit would be dismissed.

WILL claims it presents no hardship to those deactivated in error because voters can always re-register to at the polls by showing a valid photo ID and proof of residence. Wisconsin is a major battleground state, and many expect next year’s presidential election to hinge on voter turnout.